I was reading the Accountancy South
Africa magazine this week and in the magazine they honored a couple
of Chartered Accountant woman who is an inspiration to all women in
the financial sector and actually to all women in general. One
lady's testimony stood out for me. Her name is Mpho and she grew up
in a very poor family. She herded the family's animals and when she
had the chance she had to walk to school barefoot. Some days she
didn't even know whether she was going to get any food when she
returned home. But she had a very wise mentor that told her that
life is like being in a car. The rear-view mirror is smaller than
the windscreen, symbolizing that what lies ahead is more important
than what is behind you. This inspired her and despite her horrific
circumstances she persevered and didn't use her back ground as an
excuse. She excelled and qualified as a Chartered Accountant and
has made her stamp on the corporate world.
Her story made me think. This is so
true. The rear view mirror is so small compared to the wind screen
in front of you. And that is the position we should give to our
past in our lives. It should be a small part of our vision,
something we can learn from, but mainly we should be focusing on
the windscreen and what lies ahead.
The Lord also revealed to me as I
pondered this that if you solely focus on the rear view mirror and
only look at it you will most definitely go off course and you will
leave the road and either make an accident and hurt yourself and
others or go into the ditch on the wayside. You will not be able to
proceed on the road planned for you. You will be stuck and still
blaming the 'rear view mirror' for not guiding you properly.
We do it often as Christians, we
use our past as an excuse not to strive and aim for higher heights
as God planned for us. Joyce Meyer is famed by saying that your
past might be an excuse of why you are the way you are, but it is
no excuse to stay that way.
We as Christians are new creations,
created in the image of Christ. We have the mind of Christ and our
past do not have any place in our future, except to learn from it.
Our Father is now our Father in heaven and He promises us all an
inheritance bigger than we can ever imagine. He has a road all
planned out for us and we need to keep on that road. Paul said:
"I am focusing all my energies on
this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what
lies ahead. I strain to reach the end of the race and receive the
prize for what God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us up to
heaven." Philippians 3:13, 14
A prize is waiting for us in
heaven, we simply need to focus and give our all in the race before
us. Recently I watched the athletes perform in the IAAF world
championships and one thing that stood out for me was that they
gave it their all, their best, up until the finish line. They
didn't give up, but strained to perform at their best, every muscle
working in synergy towards their goal. And so should we. A mediocre
performance is not good enough, being average is not good enough,
we need to perform at our best and give it our all. God has paved
the way, you just need to forget all the excuses you might have and
run. There is a whole host of spectators that will cheer you
on!
Dear Father, thank you so much for
a wonderful future that we can look forward to. Thank you that You
have a road all planned out for us. Please help us to stay on that
road and not stray away due to excuses. Thank you Father. Amen