Letting Go and Pressing Forward

As 2019 draws to a close and a new year looms on the horizon, how do you feel about the year that has just gone by? Do you look back on it with regret? Do you see things you wish you could go back and change? Were there times of trial? Days of testing? Moments of joy? Hours of celebration?

As the curtains are drawn on the stage of a passing year, I find myself reflecting on what I was able to accomplish. Did I reach my goals? Did I even set goals? Were they unrealistic, or was I just too complacent and let them slide? Did life get so busy that the opportunities God sent my way, just passed me by and I didn’t give them a second thought?

I’m sure we can all reflect on the good and the bad of the past year. But it is up to us whether we choose to stay in 2019, or jump wholeheartedly into 2020, eager to do more for God, more for our families, our friends, our ministries.

It’s so easy to drag ourselves down with feelings of worthlessness on a job NOT well done. But God tells us in His Word that we can forget the past and move onto the future, with hope and assurance that He will accomplish something great in our lives, if we allow Him to.

Philippians 3:13-14 Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

In this passage in Philippians, we are encouraged by the apostle Paul to reach forward. To forget the things that went before.  

We can be loosed from the past by God’s grace, mercy and forgiveness. Yes, we can look back and learn from our past mistakes, but we can also press on, focusing on improving each step and reaching toward our goals.

Paul likens our life to a race. We have to keep our focus on the road ahead, not on the path behind. If we are continually looking back, we will trip and fall. A runner is intent on the prize before him, not on the hazards that lay behind.

So, how does this all play out in our day to day lives? As women, we wear many hats, each and every day. And sometimes it becomes quite a juggling act. If the year just gone by, has you depressed because of your lack of accomplishment, then let it go. If there are things that need to be dealt with, then deal with them and then leave them there. In 2019. In the past. Don’t dwell on your mistakes, just resolve to try harder this coming year. Set more achievable goals. Hand your list over to God and let Him show you what you should be focussing on. Open your hand and let Him hold the pen.

On a personal note, I usually write up a list of things I’d like to achieve each year and this year, well, honestly, I feel like my list didn’t get the nice little ‘check’ boxes filled in beside each goal. Now, I could dwell on my shortfalls, or I could tear that list up, and prayerfully, sit down and let God help me write a new one, with the knowledge that He knows what’s best and what’s achievable in this new year. He is the only one that knows what this new year will hold, so it only makes sense for Him to write the list!

I could also decide to do away with trying to reach any goals, but then a verse in Proverbs comes to mind.

Proverbs 29:18 Where there is no vision, the people perish:

but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.

We need goals. We need dreams.

That word vision does mean dream, but it also means revelation, which in turn means ‘divine guidance’. So, we need a vision and we need guidance. From God.

So, in writing our new year goals, we need guidance from the Lord as to what He would have us accomplish. Goals are not bad things and yes, we will fail. But God sees our hearts and He knows our desires and He is willing to give them to us if they are according to His will. The important thing is that we press forward. Don’t be continually looking behind and moping over past failures. Jump into 2020 with both feet! Eager to see what God has in store. Excited about what God can and will do through you.

Be enthusiastic! Look ahead. Keep your eyes looking forward, on that one step in front of you, and let God take care of whatever lies ahead. Be content to trust Him. Submit to His will and His plans for your life.

We have God’s promises to cling to and His Word is always true.

Isaiah 42:16 And I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not; I will lead them in paths that they have not known: I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight. These things will I do unto them, and not forsake them.

Leave 2019 in the past and embrace 2020 without fear of failure.

God will go before you and you can trust Him. Keep your eyes on Him and He will guide your steps.

Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.