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 8:31-33 WEB.

"Oh, look at you! You did it again... you should just give up." These thoughts often play in our minds. It's a distraction sent by the enemy to try and break your focus on the Lord. To get you off course and to stop trying.

When Peter's words 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 put what didn't 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 fatal. Part of their training is not to follow the car in front of them. If that driver went into a curve too fast, they would follow it and crash as well. Also, they would never pass it.

Each driver runs their own race, and if they spend their time looking behind them, they will never be able to finish it. It takes complete focus on the goal to be successful. They learn to ignore all the noise around them. If they make a mistake, they recover as quickly as possible, get back in the race, and concentrate on the road ahead. Paul ran his race like this (1 Corinthians 9:24).

So don't become distracted by looking to the left or right, and give no attention to the past. Let what's 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, for you are only responsible for the talents given to you. The devil doesn't want you to win this. The only way you will come out on top is by focusing on God and tuning out the distractions around you. So stop looking behind you, and focus on the road ahead.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, please help me focus on what matters. Give me a clear vision of what You have in store for me. Guide me and bring my desires in line with Yours today. In the name of Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen!

Note: Hello everyone, we're excited to introduce our new Audio Library! This is the page where you will now be able to find audio recordings of the entire Sunday service each week, plus our original music and Bible studies! We hope that you are blessed by them and please let us know if you see any issues :). As always, if you have a prayer need, we are here for you! We and the prayer team are ready to lift you up at our private prayer page: RHM Prayer Network. If you are interested in joining the prayer team, here is how to get started Prayer Partners.