Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.” ~Luke 9:62 ESV
As I have been thinking and praying to God about my dreams and plans for the new year, I also felt myself looking back and reflecting on what once was. Candidly, I was not looking back in way that caused me to stare in awe of the harvest that was before me. I was looking back in a way that yearned for a piece of what I knew and could name. I was searching for a little glimpse of the past to make me feel better and more comfortable about where God was leading me.
However, during my reflection and wondering questions of the heart, I heard The Lord clearly say, “Stop looking to the past to affirm where you are and who you are now. Where I am taking you is greater than where you have been.” There is no thing from my past that could define or shape what God is planning next. The past was not going to define for me what the Lord was planning to do for me now. What is going to define my season and the harvest that is before me is my willingness to trust and believe God for what’s ahead –even if I do not see it clearly. I can trust where He is leading and follow him.
In Luke Chapter 9:42, we see Jesus’ response to a few people who wanted to check on the past before moving ahead and following Him. Jesus responds, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.” Jesus knew the work that was ahead of Him and all the things He had planned for the people who chose to follow Him. The harvest that follows Christ’s plow was and is plentiful. God is a good God that brings good harvest. And if He’s asked you to plow forward, you can trust that He will prepare you to receive the harvest that is ahead. He also plants and provides what is needed in the time between the plowing and harvest.
Look ahead, there is work being done now. We can stop looking to old things to affirm who we are and what we are being told to do in this new season. We can plow ahead in confidence for the field of harvest that is to come. We can choose to follow where Christ is leading.
A Prayer for the One Holding the Plow: Lord, help us to overcome the mindset and resist the temptation that going back is better. Help us to see beyond our past to know what you are doing now is just as significant, and the harvest is just as good. Help us to rest in knowing that pairing up with the Kingdom of God advances us forward, not backwards. And help us to have faith to trust that where you are leading us will always yield something better than where we have been. Because we have chosen to plow ahead and follow You. In Jesus Name.