There is a heavenly principle in which we must always be looking forwards. You can only prepare for what lies ahead. You can only change what is in front of you. Seasons are going to change, and the question is, will you?
We must learn to let go of the old and take hold of the new. With childlike anticipation, we need to look to the new season the Lord has ordained for us to walk in. We can trust Him with our future because He is already there waiting for us.
As the seasons change, so must you. “To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven” (Ecclesiastes 3:1 NKJV).
Don’t look back, because that is not where you are going.
You cannot start a new chapter until you write the last word of the chapter you are in.
You have to end a chapter that you could begin a new one. “Behold, the former things have come to pass, Now I declare new things; Before they spring forth I proclaim them to you” (Isaiah 42:9 NASB).
Sometimes you need to just write “the end” so you can start a new story.
Never try to go back to an old season, but simply press on to the next one. Stop looking back and wondering why you never get anywhere.
Remember your past, but never look back. “But Jesus said to him, ‘No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back [to the things left behind] is fit for the kingdom of God’” (Luke 9:62 AMP).
Your past does not define you, God does.
You will miss the new things if you are only looking for the old.
You can’t step into your future while your holding onto your past. To grab onto something new you must let go of something old.
To the degree you hold onto the past, you give up the present. “Then Yahweh said to Moses, ‘Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to start moving’” (Exodus 14:15 NOG).
Sometimes God won’t part the sea until we trust Him to do it.
Don’t let your past be an anchor, but a stepping stone.
Always end a chapter well so that you are in a good position to start the next one.
Don’t assume the next chapter will be worse when it may be the best one ever. “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope” (Jeremiah 29:11 NKJV).
If you don’t close a chapter, then that is where you will remain.
You must put things behind you that they would no longer be in your way.
The more baggage you carry, the harder your journey will be.
Consider that God has a closed a chapter in your life that you would begin to walk in something new. “…Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead” (Philippians 3:13 NLT).
You must empty a cup that it would be filled with something new.
Never dictate to Jesus what He should do, but only make yourself ready to be used by Him. “The eyes of all look expectantly to You…” (Psalm 145:15 NKJV).
Just when you settle into how the Lord is working in your life, He changes everything around. Never think that the change is because of you, but rather it is for you.
Always consider your future in light of all that God has done for you in the past.
The ending of one season always marks the beginning of another.
Live in the hope of tomorrow and not the losses of yesterday. A plant lives by the sunlight each day.
Jesus develops an expectant heart in you by not allowing you to know exactly what to expect from Him next.
Your success in your next season is dependent upon you letting go of the last season. “Do not call to mind the former things, or ponder things of the past. Behold, I will do something new, now it will spring forth…” (Isaiah 43:18-19 NASB).
Blessings to you,
Paul