Game Time!

“Let your eyes look directly forward, and your gaze be straight before you” – Proverbs 4:25

“I never ever thought that I would be in this situation and it’s incredible and I’m enjoying every minute of it”. Described by some as a “game changer”, Fallon Sherrock has made it to the history books as the first woman to defeat a male rival in the PDC World Darts Championship on Tuesday. At 25 years old, former hairdresser Fallon has cemented her name in the tournament as she beat the world number eleven 3-1 on Saturday to move to the the third round. Having defeated two of the best names in darts, Fallon attributed her win to her forgetting “…about what [she] had done on Tuesday and just focused on the game”. Describing her excitement, she said “I think the possibility now is ‘anything can happen’ and I’m so excited to play my next game”. As Fallon inspires a new generation, have you lost your focus? As we draw closer to a new year, have you become consumed with your past?

At this time of the year as we celebrate the saviour of the world being born, it also a time for reflection and goal setting for the new year. Many people are putting strategies and plans in place for their futures, but in doing this, there is a focus on the past. While this can be a catalyst in progressing, have you become so focused on the past that you cannot move forward?

A man in the bible who found himself in such a position was Moses. Moses hasn’t always been the great man we know of and have seen his life portrayed in more than one Hollywood film. Moses was a murderer – he had killed a man and hid the body (Exodus 2:11-12) , and was on the run when God revealed to him his plan for his next step. But Moses couldn’t see God’s plan. He couldn’t move forward and was focused on his past: “Who am I that I should go and to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?” (Exodus 3:11-12). Moses couldn’t focus on what was ahead, his next game. He was solely focused on his past and why he was not worthy of what God had said about him, what God had planned for him. On paper, he wasn’t the logical choice, he wasn’t skilled in the art of public speaking, he didn’t have any experience, but God had called him for a purpose.

You see on paper, Fallon was not the logical choice, she was a hairdresser, a young mother, no experience in a male dominated arena, but because she wasn’t focused on her past, and looked forward to the next game, she won. What more of the one who has been called by God for a purpose? God has saved us completely and therefore does not look at our past in qualifying us.

So this week, though you may not be the logical choice for what lies ahead of you, though you may have made mistakes from January, though you may not have any experience or education in that field you want to go into, focus on your next game. Set your eyes forward on God, and you will make the history books. Get ready to rejoice!