Sometimes people get so low that they feel like they have nothing to look forward to. Day after day it seems to them that nothing ever changes. They just don't see how things can get any better. I really like the phrase, "looking forward." I love to hear people say they are looking forward to this, and looking forward to that. It is much better and more productive than "looking back." Looking forward is anticipating something in the future. Looking forward is positive, "moving ahead" thinking. Looking forward is not accepting things as they are today. Many people live in the past. For them, their best memories are from the "good ol' days." They can talk to you for hours and hours about how much better things were "back then," than they are today. I call it, "back then thinking." All the focus is from a time in the past when things were going well. You remember those days, don't you? It was back when there were no problems anywhere, or at any time. "Back then thinking" will never help you to move forward in life. It will keep your mind focused on a time that is no longer here. It will keep you from finding the solutions that you need for today. Sometimes when people stay locked into "back then thinking," they end up blaming God, or at least being angry with Him. Many times they feel like God should just do something. A man in the Bible named Gideon had thoughts like that. When an angel first talked to him, his response was not that of excitement and anticipation. He had some "back then thinking" going on. Gideon asked the angel why were they in the mess that they were in. Where were all the miracles and power of God that used to happen a long time ago? He wanted to know why things were not like they were in the good ol' days. At that point in his life, Gideon was not looking forward to anything great happening. If you are familiar with the record, the angel found him threshing wheat by a winepress, hiding from the enemy, the Midianites. He was just trying to survive the present, and, wondering why things were not as good as they were in the past. Are you just threshing and wondering? What are you looking forward to? What is it that you are anticipating? What kind of expectations do you have? Now I can understand how some people may have nothing to look forward to, but certainly not Christians. And, I know we are looking forward with great expectation to the return of Jesus Christ. But don't we have many other promises of what God can and will do for us right now? The promises of God in the Bible tell of His care and concern. They promise His healing and protection. They promise His abundant supply. For people who have nothing to look forward to, the future is pretty bleak. But I remember a line from a song that I heard many years ago. It was, "The future is as bright as the promises of God." How true that really is. We have a bright future. We have a lot to look forward to. As a matter of fact, the Bible even tells us to not look back, but to look forward. The Apostle Paul in Philippians said "forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before." How about you and me? Why don't we forget the past? Good or bad, it is still the past and we can't go back and live there. We can do our best today, living our lives with gratitude for all that God has provided for us today. And, we can anticipate, and look forward to brighter and better days ahead. Don't ever let the odds keep you from looking forward. Gideon decided to believe the information from the angel, and he stopped his "back then thinking" and started looking forward. With God's help, he, along with a mere 300 unarmed men, defeated an army of around 135,000. What are you looking forward to?
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