Pressing On

Back in college I was on an intramural flag football team; I was a beast (in a good way). It was a BCM (Baptist Collegiate Ministries) team, so of course we wanted to attempt to be good influences during our games. We had team shirts made that were royal blue with a yellow imprint; they had a big circle with a "P" in the middle. The "P" represented Philippians, and the reference verses in Philippians were 3:12-14.

It says, Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: 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.

God has continued to use this scripture in my life during some pretty difficult times. When I was serving overseas, I had a very stressful time where I was forced to moved to another area of the country by my supervisors. I was grieved for all the relationships that I had built with the locals in the area that I would not be able to see through.

During that time, a great pastor that I know, Darrell, preached a sermon with the above scripture. I really felt like I was the only person in the room, and that God was speaking directly to me. It really helped me to forget what was behind me or what was currently happening and move forward.

This reference came to my mind again this morning. I was talking to a friend yesterday about how I feel like I'm a different person than back in college, and not necessarily in a good way. I've felt like I've been a spiritual funk for the last few years, which was only aggravated by the fact that I work at a church. For the longest time, I felt like a hypocrite.

Thankfully, I can see the light at the end of the spiritual funk tunnel. I'm once again learning to hear from God on a daily basis, praying for my friends regularly, and sensing the power of the Holy Spirit in my life. It is an exciting place to be, and I want everyone I know to experience God like I am right now. "Forgetting what is behind (who I was in college) and straining toward what is ahead." God is working on me right now, and I have to stop dwelling on who I used to be and focus on the here and now.

As a result of such a serious post, I leave you with this photo: