Vicki shares her thought for the week; looking ahead.

We are well and truly in exam season. As a teacher, I’m spending a lot of my days speaking to the Year 11s and the Year 13s, who come and tell me about the latest exam and how it went. For some of them it went really well, and they’re boosted for the next one. For others, perhaps it didn’t go as well as they thought, or they felt that a question blindsided them slightly.

My advice is always the same: that exam has passed now, and you can’t go back and redo it – certainly not until you’ve had the results back. Their main priority should be to look ahead to the next exam, and to put their energy and focus into that, rather than worrying about something they ultimately can’t change.

Philippians 3 gives some similar advice about looking ahead. Paul says, 

forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead.

Philippians 3:13

It’s that mindset of making sure we’re not so hung up on something that has already passed that we miss what God has been setting up – perhaps from even before we were born.

So I want to challenge us this week to think about whether there are things we’re allowing to hold us back. Perhaps a past disappointment. Perhaps something that didn’t work out the way you thought it would. Perhaps there’s something in your past behaviour that you’re really struggling to reconcile, and to accept the grace that God has given you.

I want to encourage us to look ahead – to stay focused on what God has in store. The Bible says, 

I am doing a new thing. 

Isaiah 43:19

Every day God brings new things: new blessings, new mercies. It’s important that we’re not so busy looking behind us that we miss them, and miss stepping into them with God.

Have a blessed week.

Every week one of our members shares a short thought aiming to inspire you for the week. You can watch previous Thought For The Week videos by clicking here.