Burn All Ships
In the 1500s, there was a commander named Cortes who was trying to conquer the Yucatan Peninsula for its gold. To prevent retreat, Cortes ordered his ships to be sent to sea and scuttled so they could not retreat. How were they to get home? They weren’t, they would either win or perish!!
Sometimes when you make a decision to move forward you need to burn all ships of retreat. If you are getting married or are married, you need to burn all ships to any former boyfriends or girlfriends. If you are starting a new job, then you need to put all your effort into that job as if you will never get another one.
In our ministry, it was not until I scuttled all ships to the past in making any income that the Lord opened the floodgates. In an eight week period, our Devotion increased by 60 percent. Many people signed up to give monthly and my spirit felt refreshed. It didn’t make sense on paper to burn all ships to making income, but that is what I felt God telling me to do. I was not trusting God when I was trying to make ends meet in my own strength. When I finally let go and relied on people and the Lord for our provisions, God made many things happen.
Today you may be in the same dilemma. You may be holding onto something from the past as security in case you fail. That is not faith. If God has you in a position to do His work, then you need to burn all ships of security and go after it. No retreat, no surrender. Will you perish or win in the Lord’s name?
NIV “Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”
Can you leave your past behind and strain towards the future? We cannot do anything with the past except learn from it. But many people today are using their past as an excuse to be paralyzed today. If you are reading this today, then God still has a plan for you. Do you know what it is? If not, you may be discontent because you have not asked God what He desires of you. If you are discontent, please pray this prayer with me:
Lord, please forgive me for living in the past. I desperately desire to live a joyful life, but I seem like I am spinning my wheels. Help me not to do things out of selfish ambition; but please Lord help me to find a job where I can make a difference for you. Help me to let the false security of my past go and burn all ships to the past. Help me to know that there is no means of retreat. Lord, please give me your wisdom to move ahead as so many days I seem to be too paralyzed to move. Lord, thank you for loving me and having a great plan for me. Please help me today to feel your love, your presence and you will for my life.” Amen
Burn them today and don’t look back. God has a plan for you.
Copyright © 2012 Brad Henry. Used by permission.
