No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead. Philippians 3:13
You’ve heard the saying, “It’s impossible to move forward while looking backward.” It’s true, and Elisha knew it. After Elijah came out in the middle of his “field of the familiar” he knew that in order to make the full commitment he’d have to burn those plows and roast those oxen. Farming was probably all he had ever known and although there’s nothing wrong with farming, Elisha knew in that moment that God had something greater than farming for him.
So, as we see in 1 Kings 19, he roasted the oxen and fed the whole town. Maybe he just needed to make sure that he was eliminating “the familiar” and making it impossible for himself to ever go back to his comfort zone.
I can certainly relate to Elisha on this. I’ve had to answer some “calls” in my life and some even recently. And, I’d love to be able to say it was without any fear or second thought, but that wouldn’t be true. Just sharing the Facebook page to a new ministry launch recently, took all the faith I could muster because I knew once I did, there was no looking back. I know I can’t look back at past failures, pains or regrets, and move forward in the plan God has for me, at the same time. There just comes a point in life when we have to “burn the plow and roast the oxen.” You just have to let the pain and regret of the past die once and for all, leaving it all behind you. Because, what God has in front of you is so much more amazing than anything that’s behind you.
In Philippians 3:13 Paul admitted that he “hadn’t arrived yet” but was “pressing on.” So, if he hadn’t arrived, chances are we haven’t either. And, if we’ve not arrived then there’s still a destination for us to get to, and that destination is our destiny. That destiny, is that plan and purpose for which God placed us on this earth. While I’m not sure what that plan is for you, I do know God has one and I know it’s a good one, according to Jeremiah 33:3.
So today, leave the past behind and don’t look back anymore. Let go of yesterday’s regrets, hurts, failures and disappointments and just keep your eyes on Him and the plan He has for you. By letting go of the past and following Him, He’ll get you right where He wants you to be.
Elisha, who was probably around 25 years old at the time, received a double portion of Elijah’s spirit before the latter was taken up to heaven in a whirlwind. Elisha served as a prophet of the northern kingdom for more than 50 years, through the reigns of kings Ahab, Ahaziah, Jehoram, Jehu, Jehoahaz, and into the reign of Joash.