While taking kids to the pediatrician for a check-up last week, I glimpsed a poster hanging on the wall. “Don’t let yesterday use up too much of today — Will Rogers.”

Very often I find myself contemplating some part of my past that I wish I had handled differently — a difficult relationship, a financial decision, taking better care of my health.

The truth is, that no matter how much I might wish to change the past, God has only given me the ability to change today. I can either wallow in the past and remain stuck, or I can begin making small changes to meet future goals.

The apostle Paul once tried to attain favor with God by being perfect. He writes about this in his letter to the church at Philippi, once part of Eastern Macedonia. In his supreme quest to know Jesus, Paul says that he counts all of his former efforts at being good as rubbish.

Rather than being good enough for God to accept him, all he desires going forward is the gift of righteousness that comes from knowing Jesus so that he might ultimately share in his resurrection. “Not that I have already obtained it,” Paul says in Philippians 3:12, “or have already become perfect, but I press on in order that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus.”

Imagine if instead of putting his faith in Christ when confronted with past failures, Paul had chosen to wallow in his failures. What? I can’t achieve God’s righteousness by being perfect enough on my own? I’m doomed. I’ll never make it!

Had Paul let his past consume his future, believers today would be without 30- percent of the New Testament. You see, Paul went on to write 13 of the 27 books that Christians turn to for inspiration on knowing God and living a life of faith.

That’s good news for those of us who struggle with the past.

God has good things in store for his children. When tempted to dwell on the past, we can either agree with our problems. I’m not good enough. I’ll never make it. What’s the point of even trying? I might as well quit.

Or we can agree with God, who offers grace, forgiveness, and new beginnings. Even better, he loves us unconditionally – not because we’re good enough, but because he is. With God’s help, we are guaranteed to succeed.

“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me,” is one of my favorite verses (Phil. 4:13).

Yes, I still struggle. Yes, I still have limitations. But every day that I focus on the future instead of the past brings me one step closer to achieving my goals and dreams.

What is it that you hope to accomplish?

Instead of looking back, press on toward what lies ahead.

“And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, shall guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus,” Phil. 4:6.

MEADOW RUE MERRILL is a Mid-coast Maine writer who shares about God in her everyday life through “Faith Notes.” For more, go to www.meadowrue.com where you can follow her on Twitter or Facebook.