Moving
Forward and Not Back
I had the same old cellphone for
years. I could have upgraded it years ago, but I was so comfortable with it
that I didn’t. Everyone told me to get a new phone~even the phone company. But,
I was happy. So, I refused to change.
It took one of my friends describing to me
in detail all of the great things she could do with her phone like download
coupons, pay her bills, and shop online. To be honest, it was the coupon thing
that won me over. So, after years of keeping an old phone, I decided to
upgrade. I was excited. I rushed to the phone place and got a new phone. End of
story, right? Wrong!
After I got the new phone home, I realized
it was different from my old phone. I didn’t know how to use it. I was more
complicated, and I was frustrated. I decided to get in my car and head back to
the store to get my old phone and old plan back. Then, the light came on. All I
needed was for someone to show me how to work the phone, and most tutorials are
on YouTube or the phone company’s website. I was ready to get rid of a
perfectly good phone and go back to something obsolete just because it was
something I wasn’t used to.
How many times have we done that on our
walk with God? How many times have we wanted to throw in the towel because
things weren’t going the way we thought they should? We cry out, “It’s too
hard, Lord” or “I can’t do it.” We act like the children of Israel who
complained. They wanted to go back to Egypt, a place where they had been in
bond. They forgot that they had no freedom there. They forgot that they had
been slaves. They forgot how meaningless their lives and the lives of their
children were to the Egyptians. All they could remember was the food that they
ate while they were there.
And, we forget all the pain we felt when
we were bound by our sins. We forget how sad we were when we were out at the
clubs all night looking for someone to love us. We forget how tired we were of
our alcohol or drug addicts. We forget how felt worthless every time we gave in
to temptation. All we remember is the high we got from overspending or from
seeing those flashing lights. We don’t remember the looks of disappoint on the
faces of our families, our loved one, or even ourselves. So, instead of
focusing on how good we felt then and how much we are hurting now, focus on the
end result. Focus on God.
As the bible states, we should forget
those things which are behind, and press on toward the mark of a higher
calling. We can’t live our lives looking back. We have to press forward. God
tells us that he will do a “new thing”. So, we must learn to trust God and be
prepared to accept the “new thing”. Remember, weeping endures for a night, but
joy comes in the morning.
Philippians
3:13
Luke
9:62
Isaiah
43:18-19
Psalms
30:5
