"Look Forward"

This evening Anna, my three year old, was riding her "big girl" bike. With helmet on and her blond curls blowing in the wind, she was having so much fun. She would speed ahead of me and laugh at the thought that I could not keep up. She could not resist the temptation to look back to see how far she had out paced me. She'd look back, see how far ahead she was and grin from ear to ear.

The only problem was that every time she looked back she almost wrecked. In fact, at one point I thought for sure she was going to wipe out..."Whoa" she exclaimed as she struggled to regain control. I found myself blurting out these words of advice, "Anna, you can't look back. You have to keep looking forward all the time. If you look back your going to fall."

No sooner had those words left my mouth than something inside of me said, "That's good advice for you to remember too, Chad." And, right there on the sidewalk, walking behind my baby girl as she rode her bike, I had a God sighting. "If you look back, you're going to fall" was the message God was giving me loud and clear as I remembered the words from the Bible in Philippians 3:13-14, "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."

Brothers and sisters in Christ, don't look back or you'll fall! We have to keep looking forward.

Look back at what could have, would have, should have and you'll fall flat on your face and miss what is.

Look back at your mistakes, poor choices, sins and regrets and you'll get tripped up in guilt and shame that Jesus' death broke and the freedom your confession made yours.

Look back at your old life before Christ and self-indulgence and self-centeredness will show you its appeal with out reminding you of its lies and down you'll go.

Look back and second guess the commitments you know God has called you to make and ever so gradually you will find yourself falling away from what matters most.

No, don't look back! Keep your eyes looking forward! Not only will it keep you from falling, but it will let you see God going before you at every turn.

Got any God-sighting stories of your own? I would love to hear them!