Forward Focus

Photo credit:  http://liveholiness.com/2012/02/the-path-of-prayer/

This morning I found myself penning the following words in my journal....

"I'm realizing when I play the comparison game I am just asking for a battle.  When I look to the left or right or behind me...I'm setting myself up for attack.  I really truly just have to keep my eyes on you Jesus."

I am a planner.  A list maker.  I pencil in dates on my calender for the year 2050.  To be honest ladies before the holidays I actually had myself so stressed out about by life that I literally made myself physically ill.  To the point where I marched myself to the doctor and he looked at me with genuine concern and said "Bridget, I'll run tests, but I am not sure its a physical problem.  I think you might be struggling with anxiety/depression from so much stress in your life."  

And right he was....tests came back.  Everything was normal, but I was not.  I was stressed.  Anxious.   Strung out.   Overwhelmed at all that I had on my plate, but God brought peace.  He always provides it when we sit at His feet and ask Him for it.  It's when we refuse to rest in His presence that life gets overwhelming.  

This morning as I penned these words "I really...truly....just HAVE to keep my eyes on you Jesus,"   I realize...it is the only way.  When I look to my right or my left....oh the comparison that happens....she is prettier, thinner, has a cleaner house, has a better job, is more successful  has a better car......when I look behind me the lies that satan throws at me are almost unbearable "Remember that time you failed, lost, were made fun of, didn't make the team, made a fool of yourself....the list goes on.....the past haunts me.  Immobilizes me.  Enables him, the enemy to make me utterly useless in the kingdom of God, but when I keep my eyes on Jesus....I'm not distracted by my past.  I am not focused on what she has and I don't have.  I am focused on one thing.  My Savior.  My Maker.  And it is to Him that I give all glory. 

As I spent time with Jesus this morning He whispered sweetly such wonderful truth to me from Philippians 3:

"....one thing I do:  FORGETTING WHAT LIES BEHIND and STRAINING FORWARD to what lies ahead, I PRESS ON TOWARD THE GOAL for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."

I pray that each of you too will forget what is behind you.  Let Jesus use your past as a way to mold you for the present and the future, not as a way that the enemy gets to immobilize you.  Instead press on toward Him.  Towards life.  Towards his amazing call....that He wants for you.  All of you.  Not just a part of you.  All.  Of.  You.

Blessings,