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Press Forward
Nearline Anderson, Associate Regional Minister-MS
In Philippians 3:12-14 (NKJV) it reads…
12 Not that I have already attained,[a] or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. 13 Brethren, I do not count myself to have [b]apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, 14 I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
Have you ever just felt utterly alone? Even when you’re in a crowd or when your family may be buzzing about the house or in the yard at a picnic. It’s not a comfortable place to be. What is a person to do when they sense this lonely space?
I had a dream once where I had a big task that lay before me. There were many people around me, many I knew both from my past and present waking life. As I searched the crowd among familiar faces and strange faces, I managed to find someone who was familiar to me. The familiar person made an agreement to tend to the task that needed to be done. This agreement lasted for a very short time. As the dream progressed the individual abandoned me and left me alone to deal with, not only wasted time waiting on them, but also with the loneliness of wishing for someone who would stand with me.
It is only human to desire to have a partner, buddy, comrade or best friend. Friends, family or familiar people around us help to spur us on to accomplish the goals we may have set for our lives. Sometimes we are so overwhelmed by life’s challenges, that the enemy will use that to spin us into a whirlwind of doubt, sadness, loneliness, rejection, anxiety and the like, but because Jesus is with me, I learned to release a little quicker those things that lay so heavily upon me (from the past). The sense of control we feel we must have as humans can be to our demise.
We must release it to our best friend and Savior who will help us in our time of need. With the help of Jesus, I can shift from the past struggles and move into the space of productivity that Christ wants me in.
Got-Questions puts it this way:
The word forgetting in Philippians 3:13 means “dismissing from the mind or paying no attention to.” To “forget” in this way is to stop dwelling on something. To win the race, a runner must dismiss every distraction from his mind. He must not rehash every early misstep or dwell on the mistakes along his course.
“Forgetting what is behind” is Paul’s way of saying, “Don’t look back! Stop dwelling on the past. Don’t let anything behind you interfere with your present progress or future efforts.” Personal growth as a believer was a constant priority in Paul’s life. He strained with every fiber of his being to keep moving forward to win the prize for which God had called him.
https://www.gotquestions.org/forgetting-those-things-which-are-behind.html
So, watch out for those things that weigh your spirit down attempting to drag you into the “rabbit hole” of darkness and deceit. My “rabbit hole”, some of you may have figured out, is anxiety. Jesus has assured me in His word that with Him all things are possible and that I will not be consumed by the fire! He has also assured me He is with me. Even though I walk through the darkest valley I don’t have to fear the evil one because He is with me, and His rod and staff comfort me!
Ultimately in that dream as I continued to move toward a destination, I eventually came upon a big crowd of people, some familiar and others not, who befriended me and made me feel not so lonely and that the task that had to be completed would eventually get done without overthinking it or rushing through it and that Jesus would be with me.
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