Forgetting What Is Behind Us

Good Bye May, Hello June!

I wish it were that simple. To say good bye to May would be to leave it behind, not just physically, but in every way. What if May was hard and June is feared? How do we turn the page? It’s easy when things are fine, but what about the pasts that are reminding us of lingering hurts? How do we move on past those? It seems that we often have the past stuck to us, like this guy with sticky notes all over his head. We remember everything, and because we do, we find it hard to move on.

To forget doesn’t mean that we will never remember what has happened to us. But, to forget means we will stop caring for the hurts, giving them to God, allowing Him to use all things to work together for our good, as He conforms us into the image of Christ Jesus. ( Romans 8:28-29)

Philippians 3:13b-14

“Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”

There are three parts of this verse that would be important for us to concentrate on if we want to learn what it means to live in the instruction of the verse.

Forget, Strain Toward, and Press On.

Today, let’s concentrate on Forget.

Some of us forget things like, where we put our keys, or the password to an account we don’t often use. But, most of us remember to be upset over something that hurt us yesterday, or how things in the past seemed better than life in the present. As a parent, I used to call this selective memory. My kids could remember what they wanted, when they wanted to. But, the thing I wanted them to do, they always seemed to “forget.”

Paul is instructing them, from prison, about how to live the Life of a Christian, empowered by Christ. He is humble in his teaching, practical in instruction, and passionate about the need to teach them the things he is teaching them. He has told them to rejoice, lay themselves aside, trust that things happen so Christ can be formed in them…and now he is saying….Forget! Forget! Forget!

Forget what is behind you! Period. The future is in front of you, and the Lord meets you in the future, waiting to unfold His plan for you there.

Forgetting here is from the Greek word, epilanthanomai, which can be defined as:

• to forget
• neglecting, no longer caring for
• forgotten given over to oblivion, i.e. uncared for

I like, given over to oblivion, not caring for it anymore. Did you know that when we begin practicing this, it becomes easier to relinquish hurts and truly forgive? I make my problems and hurts precious when I “care” for them. I care for them by protecting them, stroking them, holding them tenderly. Sounds sick, I know, but it is as simple as talking about them too much, obsessing over them. We all know how to do this.

Don’t make your problems precious by caring for them, rather give them over to God, He cares for you… your hurts and everything from yesterday.

Hey, I wonder if we can wake up today, a new day….give over all of yesterday to the Lord. Placing it before Him, as gone. Ask Him to take it, use whatever He will and move on to a new day!

Or, better yet, maybe this should be our goodnight prayer.

“Lord, I give you everything from today. The way my friend hurt me, the nasty things that so and so said, the back pain I endured from my injury, the way I over ate to compensate for feeling sad. I give it all to you. This day is gone as soon as I lay my head on the pillow. Use anything from today for your purpose, but as of today…I turn it all over to you. Minister to me as I sleep and prepare me to wake for a new day of walking with you.”

Tomorrow we will look at straining towards…..

But, for today concentrate on that word Forget…forget what is behind you.

I already wrote today’s verse on an index card and will digest it today.

living up,

Debbie