FOCUS(ING ON)…LOOKING FORWARD.’ PHILIPPIANS 3:13 NLT

FOCUS(ING ON)…LOOKING FORWARD.’ PHILIPPIANS 3:13 NLT

One day in an orchard, seven-year-old Walter noticed an owl sleeping on a branch. Thinking it would make a wonderful pet he approached quietly and grabbed its leg. In a flurry of beating wings, wild eyes and frightened cries, the bird struggled so the boy threw it down and stomped it to death. Horrified by his actions, he fled. When he returned later to bury it, each shovelful of earth was mixed with tears of regret. The incident haunted him and he told no one about it – till years later when it had awakened in him a fresh appreciation for life. All the promises in the world couldn’t bring back that one owl, but through its death a world of animals was born. The boy’s gone, but his legacy lives on in the drawings of Walter Elias… aka, Walt Disney. Charles Dickens said, ‘Reflect on your blessings of which every man has plenty, not on your past misfortunes of which all men have some.’ Learn from your past, then ‘Focus on…looking forward.’ Paul Harvey writes: ‘The relationships we entered, stayed in, or ended, taught us important lessons. Some of us have emerged from painful circumstances with strong insights about who we are and what we want. Our mistakes? Necessary! Our frustrations, failures…stumbling attempts at growth and progress? Necessary too! Each step of the way we learned. We went through exactly what we needed to become who we are today. Is your past a mistake? No. Your mistake is mistaking that for the truth.’ God can ‘reframe’ your past in the light of the grace and mercy that brought you to where you are today. So learn from it and move on.