I like to think of a wheel potter working their clay. First the dry clay needs to have water worked into it. When the potter sets the clay on their wheel, it is just a lump. As the wheel spins, the potter’s hands press into the clay to center it. Until it is centered, nothing substantial can be formed.

So it is with us. Our Potter works His word into our hearts. He uses the pressures of our lives to center us on Him. Isaiah 32:17 says, “The work of righteousness will be peace, and the effect of righteousness, quietness and assurance forever.”

In Philippians 3:13-14 Paul described how God worked in his life. Like a trapeze artist, he had to forget the things that were behind him. That is essential for us also. We cannot reach for what is ahead until we let go of our past that is behind. The forgetting is the empowerment to reach.

As Paul lived in the present. Verse 14 says, “I press toward the goal…” We press through flesh-obstacles to represent the Lord in every aspect of our lives.