day 1048: Don't Look Back

"Fear not . . . be glad and rejoice: for the Lord will do great things" 

One of the greatest impediments of moving forward is looking back. Sure, we have to use trends and data to be confident and understand where we have come from, but when we spend too much time in the past we can end up never moving forward, or moving in the wrong direction.  A farmer with an ox and plow, or a John Deere tractor knows this lesson all too well.  One look over the shoulder to see where they have hoed and they are now off line going forward.  We are all too quick in business to want to look over our shoulder and either congratulate ourselves for how far we have come or worse yet, get down on ourselves for the lack of progress to date.  We can't spend our time in the rear-view mirror if we want to move forward boldly and with conviction.  So, gather the analysis needed, review it, make the needed hypothesis and learning and then put it away to move courageously and intently into this New Year.

We are reminded in God's Word about what happened when Lot's wife looked back.  We may not turn to a pillar of salt when we look back, but we are in many ways turning our back to God when we decide that we are going to let the past rule our future.  God is in no way a God of yesterday.  He came to give us a forward looking life with glorious promises of the future. When we look backwards we are not believing and trusting in what He can do for us in the coming year, months, days.  So, let's today, as we complete this first work week of 2013, look only forward and be resolved to making this the best Purposed worKING  year of our lives.

Reference:  Joel 2:21

day 335: Firm Decisions

Good decision-making is a skill. Not everyone makes the best of decisions and all of us would be really lousy at it if we didn't have others to bounce decisions off of before we make them. I find that the worst decisions are the ones that are made without the advice and counsel of trusted advisers and counselors. I have found myself, more than ever before, telling people that they need to "pass the ball at least four times before they take a shot" (the motion offense). This means that we should get the advice and counsel from at least four other people before we make a decision. It appears harder to make good career decisions today when everything is so uncertain. If it is unclear about the security of the company, then it is very hard to have certainty about one's own job or career. So, decisions about career and work are really hard to make right now. What is still true though is that good decision-makers are ones who when they make the decision, they stick with it, follow-through and live with the consequences and the responsibility of the decision. A decision that is not followed-through was not really a decision at all. We all get faced with these, tens of times a day, and we have to either stick with the decision or be wishy-washy and flimsy in our decision-making. We all know which type of decision-maker we would like to be, but it is clearly hard to be resolute and firm in our decisions. But, that is the example we are given over and over in the Bible; that the decisions we make, we are to stick with and not look back. There is no better example of that than in Genesis 19:17 and the story of Lot and his wife. The Angel was clear when he said; "...Don't look back". How many times do we know that are not to look back, but we do, because we don't trust our decisions? Fortunately, we don't turn into pillars of salt each time we do, but we do in some way erode our own confidence and the confidence from others when we are seen looking over our shoulders. Today, you may be facing a decision that needs to just be made. Once you have prayed over it, and received the counsel of your four trusted advisers, then make the decision with courage and don't look back. There are other decisions that you have made that you are now waffling and wondering if you made the right decision. Again, if you prayed over the decision and received your counsel, and then you made the decision feeling like it was the best course of action, then before you go back on it, live with it for awhile and follow-through to see if the decision turns our to be right. You will never know for sure if you go back on the decision before you allow time to prove it out. Firm decision-making is not easy for anyone, but it is a skill that you can perfect. Now would be a great season to begin working on how to make better and firmer decisions. Not just for you, but for all the other people around you who look to you to be the one they can count on. It is God that puts you in the position where others look up to you and one way to be the example for them is to be one who is known for "not looking back" on decisions made.


Reference: Genesis 19:17 (New Living Testament)