Hosanna Restoration Church

Progress. Things are always moving. Sometimes things progress in a good direction, and other times they go in a wrong direction. I guess progress in the wrong direction is called digression, but really it is just a different direction from what a person might expect things to go. What one person might consider to be progress may not be progress at all to another. For instance, when I came to know the Lord, I loved the direction I was headed and considered it progress. Others I knew before were not so sure it was a step in the right direction.

Previously, we looked at position, perspective, and potential as they related to our Christian walk. We also need to make progress in our walk toward God, because if we do not we will be making progress away from Him. Every person who comes to know God really does want to get closer to Him, but there are many things that try to keep us from making the progress we so greatly desire. The first thing we need to understand is that our desire for God guarantees progress if we will just trust Him.

Remember, desire is what put us in position in the first place. We then need to maintain our perspective and trust God to complete the good work that He has begun in us. He knows our true potential and through our relationship with Him he has revealed the potential for a full life with Him through Christ our Lord.

The Apostle Paul said that he kept himself busy pressing toward the goal of the upward call of God. We need to remember that it was God who chose us and that God is able to keep us. Even if we do not feel like anything is happening. Even if cannot seem to hear Him. We can be sure that He is calling us to draw closer. As we get closer, things become clearer.

Paul did a very important thing in his preparation to press for that goal. He said he simply forgot what was behind. In other words, there was not a thing he could do about it and remembering it only held him back. So he said, “I just forget it.” If it was a wrong thing, he asked God to forgive him, corrected what he could, and left it there. If it was a right thing, He gave the glory to God and left it there as well.

Then he said that he just kept reaching for the things that were ahead. Even if he did not know what was ahead, he kept reaching because he knew something was there. God has promised that something is there if we will just keep looking toward the author and finisher of our faith.

As he reached, he made sure that he was pressing. If we are not making progress, it is probably because we are not pressing the right direction. There is also the possibility that we are making more progress than we realize but we are seeing things from a different perspective than God is.

If we are willing to forget what is behind and reach for what God has ahead then we can be confident progress is taking place. If you desire progress, God is able to provide it. Trust Him.