Philippians 3:13 Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
On the heels of last weeks issue we discussed suffering with predicaments and problems - simply put: ‘loss’. We find in just a few verses later how Paul was able to moved past his loss and into the pages of eternal history as the greatest missionary to walk the earth.
With all that is around us, the distractions and disturbances of everyday life, the same formula Paul applied is offered to enable us to do the same. What was the key to Paul’s life and loss? He says: “this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind...”. Paul placed the past in the past; good, bad and indifferent he had to plant them in the field of forgetfulness so that he could ‘press toward’.
It was that one thing Paul performed to work through times of Discouragement (II Timothy 4.16). Days where Paul felt as if he was alone, where no man would stand with him, to support his actions and call upon his soul. Friends would forsake him and family would fail him. Many times in our life we experience discouragement at the hands of others (whether intentional or inadvertent) and it seems as everyone forgets where you are.
I wonder in the early years of Paul’s Christianity if he was ever acquainted for a moment, even a minute with Depression. I am not referring to the depression that is self-centered, but rather that which is moved as a result of a desire for others to be saved. Paul stated in Romans 9:3 “For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh:”. Those are strong words that stem from the heart of man that was moved to the point of willingness to depart from his own salvation so that Israel could be born again and spared from anguished of death and hell.
Finally it is that one thing Paul did that enabled him get through times of Despair (II Corinthians 1.8). There are days and nights when many feel as if everything in life is falling apart. In fact everyone will experience some form of despair in their days. A point when they simply are tired with facing the struggles and events of the day and age we live...and rightly so.
It seems as if everyday there is some tragedy occurring. Gone are the days where destruction occurs only in the streets of some estranged middle eastern town or a country with a 4000 year history of violence. Today these events befall in our own backyard; increasingly, what we have seen for decades across the sea now is viewed across the streets. If there are any reasons a person becomes Discouraged, Depressed and Despairs life they are found on the news daily.
Just remember, for Paul it was ‘one thing’ that enabled him to press on day after day, most days with smiles and joy of the Lord. Not a lengthy and complex formula, but ONE THING. When no man stood with Paul, he knew the Lord stood with him. When thoughts of his own countrymen perishing pounded his heart, he was comforted with the thought of how many have come to Christ. When the days of shipwrecks and storms occurred Paul remember the Lord would never leave him nor forsake him.
The One person we can ALWAYS turn to, find comfort and consolation is the One that saved our souls, the Lord Jesus Christ. The fact is, as a born again believer, we have already given unto to the Lord our eternal life. The problems of these days are not seen in eternity to come, they are only of the life we live in now. Therefore, the key to working through times of Discouragement, Depression and Despair lies in the same application of that ‘one thing’ (“forgetting those things which are behind...”) by surrendering our temporal life unto the eternal Godhead.
Think about it this way, we have given over a life that we have never seen, touched or know of to the Lord God Almighty by faith. If we can do that with a life we know nothing of, let us therefore do the same with a life we know all too much about. If we can trust God with our eternal life, surly we can trust Him with our temporal life. He will never thee nor forsake thee... None of us can say that about any friend, family or foe on this side of glory, but there is a friend, that sticketh closer than a brother (Proverbs 18.24). It is He that will stay the test of time and He that will be there is the dark days allowing the days of light to shine about our hearts to comfort each one of us in times of need.
“...but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”
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