MOVING FORWARD

Here we are, a new year before us.  Resolutions are being made and before the month is over, many will be forgotten.  Just before the holiday, I had a routine doctor’s appointment and he enthusiastically asked, “Are you ready for the New Year?  Do you have your list of resolutions made?”  Before I could give it a thought I responded, “Yes.  I’m going to live this year better than last year!”  He got a chuckle out of my response but in reality, it was what was in my heart: to do my best to have a great 2015 and that starts with leaving 2014 behind. 

I, as many people in the world, have had several ups and downs this past year.   This is life.  If I had to make a resolution, it would be not to dwell on those downs from last year and move forward to better things in the new year.   Don’t get me wrong, life does not come without its share of  challenges, but how we respond to those challenges is what makes us either victorious or a sore loser.  I want to be a victor!

The story of Lot and his wife in the Bible always puzzled me.  They lived in a horrible city full sin and they clearly did not belong.  In Genesis 19, God sends his angels to take Lot and his family out of the city and on to a better place before he destroys the city.  In verse 17, when the angel instructs Lot and his family to leave, he says, “Escape for your life.  Do not look back or stop anywhere in the valley.”   In other words, move forward.  Don’t look back at what the year brought you.  Move forward because God has something good for you.   Furthermore, if you find yourself in a season where things haven’t been going so well and you’re in the valley, don’t stop!  Move forward.  Something better is waiting for you ahead.

If you remember the rest of the story, after Lot’s family started to flee out of the city, verse 26 says, “But Lot’s wife, behind him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.”  Why is it that, even though a situation is bad for us and we know that we can do better, because we are so used to it, we can’t help but look back?  God has given you a way out of that abusive relationship.  Move forward.   New opportunities are on the horizon for your career.  Move forward.  You lost your house?  There’s a better one for you, but you will never know if you don’t stop dwelling on what happened and just move forward.

I remember watching Joel Osteen preach on television one day and he said something that struck a chord in me:

“See, when you drive home today, you’ve got a big windshield on the front of your car.  And you’ve got a little bitty rearview mirror.  And the reason the windshield is so large and the rearview mirror is so small is because what’s happened in your past is not near as important as what’s in your future.” Joel Osteen

So, for 2015, I have no resolutions.  What I have is a promise to myself.  I am going to move forward and look towards what God has for me.  There may be some bumps in the road, but that can’t stop me.  I have to keep moving forward.  Will you?

Mending Maria

P.S. Don’t forget to send me your prayer requests.  I would love to hear from you.  info@mendingmaria.com