Moving forward, Not looking back!

Life is full of moments where decisions are made, and we have to move forward.  We have small choices every day that affect the future we live in.  But occasionally, we have significant decisions that drastically change our lives.  I have been thinking about that following the election we have just moved through. Don’t worry; I am not about pontificating about the wisdom or folly of the decision we have collectively made; instead, I am trusting it to God like all such decisions in life.

No, I have been pondering those seminal moments in my life. I have identified them and considered how they have furthered or changed the set course.  Here is a short list of those decisions:



• Baptism
• Accepting my call to ministry
• Choosing to attend Lambuth University
• Choosing a major at LU
• Choosing to work in youth ministry for a time before seminary
• Marring Sharon, whom I love:  (No Regrets)
• Going to Duke for Seminary
• Joshua’s Birth, yes, was planned well as much as possible
• Accepting an appointment as an associate pastor
• Winn’s Birth also planned
• Building a house/selling a house
• Various decisions about moving or not over the years
• Leaving the United Methodist Church for the Global Methodist Church

A couple of things to note: Many of these came early in life, and none of them were made in isolation; each was influenced, agreed upon, or prompted by others to varying degrees.  God has been a significant player in each decision, with much prayer and the Holy Spirit guiding my contemplation.  Each has helped set the course of my life and changed it somehow.  Each marks the beginning and end of a chapter of my life, with many overlapping.  Without fail, each one is shaped by my evolving relationship with God and the relationships developed with others during those periods. 

I'm sure you could develop a similar list and that you would have some similar and different decisions. 

But the title Moving Forward, Not Looking Back, is a biblical concept from Lot and his wife, who became a salt pillar to the Israelites in the Exodus and several other places.  These seem to suggest that we should move on and forget what lies behind them, but the fact that the Bible exists suggests something different.  Knowing our history helps inform our present and guides our future.  The bible, in fact, records the relationship between God and humanity, highlighting some of the decisions and events that have shaped our collective and individual lives.  Studying scripture helps us see the decisions people made, some huge and some small, that have impacted who we are today as Christians.  We need to learn that sometimes in our lives, we should not be looked back on as times to which we should desire to return.  Lot’s wife turns back to look at Sodom and Gomorrah, burning with longing for what was; the Israelites look back at Egypt, saying that their lives of Slavery were preferable to the hard life of travel to the promised land and a better but unknown future.

In fact, Jesus uses the story of Lot's wife to teach his disciples about the coming Kingdom of God. He tells them, "Remember Lot's wife! Whoever tries to keep their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life will preserve it." This is a message to us not to allow the idea of a better time in the past to deter us from moving into the future guided by our faith.  In part, it is because what we perceive as a better time in the past is often not better than what God has planned for us in the future if we don’t take the detour.  We cannot move forward if we look at the past as a destination.

So, I encourage you to look at how God has guided you into the present, noting the significant decision points and being honest with yourselves about whether you allowed God to guide that decision or your action or inaction or if you acted in opposition to God’s prompting. As you look at the past, do not allow it to immobilize you but to inform you and encourage you to seek God’s presence and guidance in your moving forward.

God has a future; He is guiding you toward it; I pray you will accept His influence.

Peace,

Pastor Burt