How many times have you tried to start over (at anything) to fix what you did wrong and realized that you really can’t go back to the beginning? Why can’t you go actually start over? Because you gained knowledge and skills from your first time through that put your farther down the road than when you started the first time. So you are not really starting from the same place.
I don’t think the Lord wants us to try to start over but instead he wants us to start from where we are. The key is that he does want us to start from where we are and move forward. He doesn’t want us to be content with where we have been or where we are. In God’s Word, Paul sets the example when he says:
“I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:13-14)
I am committing to forgetting my past and reaching forward to what God has ahead for me, to pressing on toward the eternal prize that he has for me. As a daily reminder, I am making this the banner of my daily planner pages:
I press on toward the goal (health, energy, life vision) for the prize (eternal reward) of the upward call (ministry to my family, church, and community) of God in Christ Jesus.