He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. He spoke to them openly. Peter took him, and began to rebuke him. But he, turning around, and seeing his disciples, rebuked Peter, and said, 'Get behind me, Satan! For you have in mind not the things of God, but the things of men.' Mark 8:31 WEB

'Oh look at you! You did it again... you should just give up.' These thoughts often play in our mind. It is a distraction sent by the enemy to try and break your focus on the Lord, to get you off course, to get you to stop trying. When the words of Peter no longer lined up with the will of the Father, Jesus turned His back to him and put him behind Him. When satan tried Jesus in the wilderness, Jesus told him 'Get behind me satan.' Jesus focused on the present will of God, and He put what did not agree with it behind Him.

Formula One race car drivers are trained to focus on where they want to go, and not get distracted by the things around them. They are moving so fast that even a slight distraction could be a fatal one. They are trained not to follow the car in front of them, for if it went into a curve too fast, then they would follow it and crash as well. Also, they would never pass it.

Each driver runs their own race and if they spent their time looking behind them, then they would never be able to finish it. It takes complete focus on the goal, and ignoring all the noise around them to be successful. Paul ran his race like this (1 Corinthians 9:24).

So don't look to the left or to the right, and give no attention to the past. Let what is behind you, stay behind you. Focus on the future that God has for you and stop listening to the voices that want you to fail. Stop comparing yourself to others, you are only responsible for the talents given to you. The devil does not want you to win this and the only way that you come out on top is by focusing on God completely, and tuning out the distractions around you. Stop looking behind you, and pay attention to the road ahead of you.

Prayer: Heavenly Father please help me focus on what matters. Give me a clear vision of what I should be focusing on, guide me and bring my desires in line with You, in the name of Jesus Christ I pray.

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