Press Forward

February 17

Successful people share many laudable traits. They are diligent, they are focused, they are innovative, they think ‘outside the box,’ they are undaunted by setbacks. Examples abound of people who attained the pinnacle after severe reversals. History is replete with the stories of individuals who did not allow failure to defeat them.

Abraham Lincoln, believed by many to have been America’s greatest president had a very difficult road to success and, even in the White House, bore severe criticism for his handling of the Civil War. Diligence and resilience enabled President Lincoln to proceed when many of his advisers resisted his every decision.

In the realm of science, Madam Currie, the famous French chemist, discovered radium and polonium in her laboratory after much research. In 1928, bacteriologist Alexander Fleming made the chance discovery of penicillin from a contaminated experiment when researching something else.

The Apostle Paul also had a false start in his pursuit of the will of God, but once he discovered the Living Christ he said, “Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” So must we forget our failures and go forward in Jesus.