Forget the Past/Look Forward with Hope

Looking Forward to a hopeful future.

12/28//2025

Philippians 3:13

“Brothers and sisters, I myself don't think I’ve reached it, but I do this one thing: I forget what lies behind me and reach out to what lies ahead. The goal I pursue is the prize of God’s upward call in Christ Jesus.”

I like what Paul says in this verse. He felt like a lot of us, we have not reached our destination yet. God is not done with us. But in the meanwhile, he says “My entire focus now is to keep running that race—to grow into Christ’s likeness and to reach the day when I stand with Him in the fullness of God’s radiance. That is the one prize worth giving everything for.”

 As 2025 wraps up, we all have our ideas about what kind of year it was. Regardless of our thoughts, we can know that God was at hand. God’s presence is always present; it has always been there with us in the past, it is always with us right here and now, and it will always be with us moving forward.

Although we may not always notice this Divine Presence, it is there. It is just that we are easily distracted by what the world waves in front of our eyes. So, it is about focus, where we are looking. What is capturing our attention? Isaiah 43:18-19 says, “Do not remember the former things… I am doing a new thing… I will make a way in the wilderness.” When we trust in God, we can know that God’s plans for us are “good, prosperous, and filled with hope,” whether we are speaking of the past, present, or future.

If we do not see that, then perhaps we are spending too much time looking in the wrong direction. Perhaps we are replaying failures instead of recognizing God’s steady and supportive hand on our life journey. Lamentations 3:22–23 tells us: “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”  In other words, our Divine Father is bigger than our failures, stronger than any disaster or drama we face, and is absolutely dependable. We can stake our hope on Him.

Today, let us choose to remember 2025, not as a year that defines us, but as a year in which God proved, again, that His love and faithfulness never failed. Despite the tragedies, chaos, and political turmoil that this year brought, God’s mandate to “tend the garden” is not forgotten; nations are still making costly commitments to protect His world. For instance, for the first time ever, the combined power of wind and solar overtook coal as the world’s leading source of electricity. This signals a turning point in the global energy transition and a step toward cleaner air for millions.

Also, at the COP16 biodiversity conference, 196 countries agreed to help developing nations protect the full variety and health of God’s living world – its species, habitats, and the intricate web of relationships that sustain life. These are the rare, hopeful signs of global cooperation for creation care.

In 2025, God’s healing work came through human minds and hands that echo Christ’s compassion. Gene therapies once thought impossible brought dramatic hope: scientists reported a world‑first therapy that turned white blood cells into “living drugs” capable of reversing previously untreatable blood cancers in children. Surgeons removed a previously “inoperable” brain tumor using a new procedure, and children born nearly blind received “life‑changing” improvements in vision from pioneering treatments in London.

Several countries were declared malaria free in 2025, including Georgia, Suriname, and Timor Leste, marking a major advance against a disease that has plagued humanity for centuries. At the same time, nations such as Mauritania, Papua New Guinea, Burundi, Senegal, Fiji, and Egypt eliminated trachoma, the leading infectious cause of blindness.

These medical advancements will spare future generations from needless suffering. Even as new diseases are found, quiet global partnerships are pushing old scourges back; God’s universal grace is at work through scientists, health workers, and communities.

God wants us to flourish. Despite the distractions, there is a growing hunger for wholeness, wisdom, and genuine connection. In fact, a study of older adults in England found them in better health than previous generations, prompting the headline “70 really may be the new 60.” ‘Positive news’ outlets are growing with some increasing as much as 30%.

Physicians at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia used CRISPR gene‑editing to design a custom therapy for a baby boy with a rare, life‑threatening metabolic disease—editing his liver’s DNA so his body could produce a missing enzyme. Early results show his dependence on constant medication has dropped dramatically and his health and development have improved, which offers a model of hope for many ultra‑rare diseases once considered untreatable. These are small but concrete signs of longer, healthier lives, mentally and physically.

In 2025, while headlines focused on division and fear, scientists and doctors – many of them in our own country—quietly helped blind eyes see better, broken hearts beat stronger, and devastated families hope again. These are not just ‘human triumphs;’ they are glimpses of the God who still heals, still gives wisdom, and still calls us to value every life He has made. God says, “I am doing a new thing… I will make a way in the wilderness.” These stories are examples of what is meant by “Christ has no body now but ours.” Ours are the hands, minds and the hearts of Christ, moving forward, working with God to make new things happen.

We are told to forget what lies behind us. That does not mean ignoring the lessons the past offers; it means to release anything that hinders our spiritual growth and awareness. As we stand on the threshold of 2026, our calling is not to chase every ambition, but to make this our ‘one thing’: to press on to know Christ, develop a deeper knowledge of Christ in our daily life through prayer, Scripture, and service. This is how we become unstuck from the past and become vehicles for God to create a new future.  

It is my prayer that we lift our eyes toward that future with trust in God, not our own self-will. Let us welcome 2026 as a stewardship request from God; it is not just a new year, but it is God’s year.  Hope, joy, peace, and love open the way to newness. Faith and trust open our hearts to Spirit’s guidance and call us forward into what we cannot yet see. In our prayer time, ask God, “How are You calling me to practice hope, peace, joy, and love in 2026?” And then sit and listen to the response. The more solid our relationship with Christ, the more we will see these qualities actively present in our lives.

I pray that we know to our very core that our God who saw us through 2025 will carry us through 2026. He held our past, He stands with us in our present, and He goes before us into the future. So let us lay down every weight from this past year, fix our eyes on Christ, and step forward in faith, trusting that He is doing a new thing with us, in us, and through us.