Keep on movin on

Philippians 3:13-14 No, dear brothers and sisters, I am still not all I should be, but I am focusing all my energies on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I strain to reach the end of the race and receive the prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us up to heaven.

• Are you scared of taking the next step?
• Scared that you'll be let down or hurt?
• Is something holding you back from going forward?

All of us have a certain amount of baggage that we carry from our past. Some of us carry lighter loads than others. Some have learned how to let their past go because they have found out that it will seriously damage their walk with the Lord and what He wants to do with their lives. They have found that carrying around some of the baggage from their past and constantly dwelling on it will take their joy and happiness in the Lord. They have found that it will distort their thinking and take away possibilities of good things that they have.

So why do we let the past effect our future? Isn't it the past for a reason? Do you think that God puts us through certain events so that we can get stuck in it and never fully be able to move on or is it that he puts us through events in our life so we have a challenge to go through that results in a life lesson learned? We go through hardships whether its family issues, health issues, abuse or relationship problems for a reason. With every issue we face we get the chance to overcome it and become stronger. God doesn't put things in our life to break us down to where we can't get up or move past it. If He did we would never grow as a person, much less ever fully walk to our real calls and destinies for the Lord. I see so many people who are scared or broken from things that have happened in the past and they miss out on so many opportunities or just can't full enjoy the here and the now.

We only get one chance in the eternal scheme of things to leave our mark in this world to some degree for the Lord. We should be able to stay strong with the Lord and know that he made a plan for us and we should just let everything go to Him and trust Him enough to let things go and keep pushing forward through life making the absolute best of it that we can.Don’t wait until the time is just right to take the first step toward achieving your goals. The time will never be just right.The choice is yours. You can either choose to let the hurts, wounds and pains from your past continue to stop you from going on – or you can choose to say enough is enough and give God a chance and a green light to free you from some of the bad things that may have occurred in your past. His power and His help is right there for you if you are willing to take His hand and allow Him to bring you up out of it!

Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord and has made the Lord his hope and confidence.

- Jeremiah 17:7

- Lauren Bartlett