Don't Look Back

Intro: Danger of Looking Back

Memories light the corners of our minds, but they can also weigh heavy on our hearts. They can warm us — or they can wound us. The truth is, some people are walking around half-dead because their past has become a prison.

The question for us today is this: Are we trapped in yesterday?

Paul gives us the answer in Philippians 3: “Forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”

This morning I want to show you three truths from God’s Word:

1. Stop Mourning Yesterday (1 Samuel 16).

2. Start Moving Forward (Joshua 1).

3. Stay Focused on the Goal (Philippians 3).

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Point 1: Stop Mourning Yesterday

(As in the sample above — Miss Havisham, Isaiah 43, Samuel mourning Saul, Deut. 34:7–8, God’s challenge: “How long will you mourn?”).

Transition: Friend, you cannot heal by staring at the wound. Grief has its place, but it cannot become your permanent address. That brings us to the second truth.

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Point 2: Start Moving Forward

When Moses died, Israel grieved for thirty days. Then God came to Joshua and said something strange: “Moses my servant is dead. Now therefore, arise, you and all this people, and go over the Jordan.”

Why remind them Moses was dead? They already knew! God was saying: “Yes, Moses is gone — but my purpose is not. It’s time to move forward.”

We all face “Moses moments.” Times when someone or something we leaned on is no longer there. Maybe it was a pastor, a mentor, a job, a spouse, a friend. We leaned on them for prayer, for support, for identity. But God says: “That season is over. Now arise. Take responsibility. Step into the land I’ve promised you.”

Israel had spent forty years being passive — Moses prayed for them, Moses repented for them, Moses led for them. But now God was saying, “It’s time for you to walk in faith for yourself.”

The same is true for us. At some point, you can’t lean on your pastor, your friends, your Sabbath School teacher, your parents, your spouse. God says: “Do your own praying. Find your own faith. Take your own steps of obedience.”

And when new challenges come, don’t run to the phone — run to the throne. People may not understand your struggle, but God always does.

Illustration: The devil wants to chain you to what’s behind, but God wants to open a new path in front of you. Isaiah 43:19 says, “Behold, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs forth; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.”

That means God has fresh mercy for every morning, fresh strength for every trial, and fresh opportunities even when doors have closed.

Transition: But once you’ve stopped mourning yesterday, and once you’ve made the choice to move forward, there’s one more thing: you must keep your eyes on the goal.

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Point 3: Stay Focused on the Goal

Paul says in Philippians 3: “I press on… forgetting what lies behind, straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”

Notice the words: pressing, straining, striving. This is not casual language. Paul is saying, “It won’t always be easy. Sometimes I’ll want to quit. But I won’t stop pressing until I reach the prize.”

That’s why Jesus warned in Luke 17:32: “Remember Lot’s wife.” God was leading her family out of destruction, but she looked back — and in that moment she lost her future. Looking back destroyed her.

Illustration: I once heard of a little boy in Sabbath School. The teacher was explaining how Lot’s wife looked back and became a pillar of salt. Little Percy raised his hand and said, “My mommy looked back once while driving — and she turned into a telephone pole!”

The truth is, looking back can still destroy us. Some try to mix the old life with the new, but it never works. God makes us new creatures in Christ — old things pass away, all things become new.

Paul says: “This one thing I do…” Not ten things. Not fifty things. One thing. Forgetting what is behind and pressing toward what is ahead.

That means if you drag the guilt of yesterday into today, today will be wasted too. Satan loves to whisper in the morning, “Remember what you did yesterday. Remember your failure.” But God’s Word says, “His mercies are new every morning.”

So when you wake up, proclaim it out loud: “Lord, I receive your mercy today. I thank you for forgiveness in Jesus’ name. I’m pressing on.”