Ron Writes
Everyone has two lists. There’s the list of all the trials and troubles, past and present. All the pain, the hurts, and injustices we have endured. Then there’s the second list. It contains all the blessings and good things in life, past and present. Most of us are blessed beyond what we deserve. How are you doing? It depends on which list you’re focusing on.
Paul told those at Philippi, to “rejoice in the Lord” (4:1). Then he reminded them of all the dangers and trials they faced. So how can one rejoice with these things threatening us? Paul says, “this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind…” (4:13). Let’s stop here. Some are so focused on the pains of the past, there’s no room for praise. “Nobody knows the troubles I’ve seen.” Woe is me. I have done some things, said some things, thought some things. How could God ever love me? There’s nothing you can ever do to change the past. Focusing on it leads to bitterness and misery.
Paul said, “forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead” (4:13). “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, His mercies never come to an end, they are new every morning.” God’s forgiveness never stops. Every day is a fresh start. The challenge for us is to forget what lies behind and focus on the love and mercy of God. See God act! My today is marvelous, because God has made it so. Tomorrow offers the hope for us to see God act even more.
Too often we’re like spoiled children. Too consumed with the broken toys of the past to be able to enjoy the new ones we have been given today. As parents we would be hurt and disappointed if our children behaved this way.
The way to praise is by forgetting. Getting our eyes off the bad list of trials and troubles. One way to forget is by praising. Count your many blessings, name them one by one. Put our focus on the good list of blessings. Even in the midst of our suffering and struggles, there’s more to praise about than to pout about. This is how to have joy despite all the things that would rob us of it. There’s nothing weightier than the surpassing value of knowing Jesus our Lord (4:8).
