“Brothers and sisters, I do not
consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting
what is behind and straining toward what is ahead.”
-Philippians 3:13
In The Voice translation of this verse it is said like this, “I know I have not arrived.” I wonder how many of you are like me and just
want to get there already. We just want
to arrive at our destination, but that destination means life on earth is
over. We are always going to be a work
in progress, never truly arriving until we arrive at Home with the Lord. Many times when God corrects me on something
or teaches me a lesson I thought I already learned, I am frustrated and caught off
guard by my need to relearn it. I get so
frustrated with myself thinking I should have arrived there already.
Recently God has been teaching me some
lessons that I thought I already knew. The
truth is that I had the knowledge in my head, but I hadn’t learned it in my
heart yet. When I
stopped to think about this, I had to stop and thank God for working this way
in my life. Can you imagine how hard and
overwhelming it would be if we learned all the lessons at once? We wouldn’t survive. God, in His grace and mercy, gives us these
lessons little by little, knowing exactly what we need and when. In reflecting on my testimony and my
spiritual growth, I am overwhelmed by how God tenderly gave me these lessons to
learn in my heart a little at a time. In
each season, with each step, he gave me the discipline I needed to prepare me
for my next steps. With each step, I had
what I needed to strain toward what lies ahead.
If you can
relate today, I hope that I can encourage you.
May you be encouraged in knowing that we are all works in progress. None of us has arrived, but we can forget the
past and strain toward what lies ahead, knowing each new lesson is a stepping
stone into our future.
Father, thank you for being such a
patient and merciful God. I am so
thankful that you do not expect me to be perfect, but you are patiently
transforming me into your likeness day by day.
Father, help me to be patient with myself. And help me to see the lessons you are
teaching me today, in this moment. I
pray that as I forget the former things, I can use your lessons as stepping
stones into all you have for me in the days to come. Thank you, again, for walking with me each
step of the way. I love you, Lord. Amen.
