A Stumbler's Walk | PRESENT POWER

"…forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal…"

- Philippians 3:13-14 

Things from the past often hinder us from moving forward. They are the anchor ropes we need to let go (see post from Nov. 10th, Acts 27). Not all of these are bad or negative. We can at times be most hindered by the positives, by victories of the past.

Paul is not saying that we need to erase the past from our memories. Frankly, that would be frustrating and impossible. As a matter of fact, reading verses 13 & 14 in context, we see that Paul has a vivid recollection of his past (he repeatedly tells his story - something to keep in mind since we each have a unique story).

Paul is telling us that our past is just that, past (or better, passed). You are not your past. Neither am I. Our past helps to shape us, to forge us and our character. But our past does not define us. Our past cannot hold us captive. Or maybe better said, it can only control us to the extent we allow.

Turning:

In verses 13 and 14 there is a turning. Paul glances over his shoulder down the pathway of his past, then he abruptly turns to his present. Wait, you expected me to write that he turns toward his future. But I don't think that is accurate. "Straining… I press on…;" these are current actions. They are present tense.

In the first chapter of the letter Paul speaks of his longing to be at home with Christ; "absent from the body," he calls it. But he declares "for to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain" (Philippians 1:21). For Paul, the goal is ahead, the straining, the pressing on, are now. This is important. We are often as controlled by the unknowns of the future - its worries, fears or even its dreams and desires - as we are by the past.

So let's take a glance over our shoulder now and again. But the past is passed. The future? We can't live in tomorrow any more effectively than in yesterday. But the present… the now; this is where God meets us. And this is where we strain, where we press on to know him and to join him.

God, thank you for my past - the good, the bad, the ugly. And thank you for my future; it is secure in you. Most of all meet me in my present, and let me know your presence, as I turn to you... 

For now...
D