Life has a peculiar way of presenting us with truths we'd rather avoid. We see them clearly, acknowledge their existence, yet somehow manage to postpone dealing with them indefinitely. There's a phrase for this universal human tendency: "kicking the can down the road." We know the inevitable must be faced, but we choose delay over decision, postponement over progress.

Every single person possesses one fundamental power that shapes their destiny: the power of choice. This isn't a special gift reserved for the privileged or the spiritual elite—it's the common inheritance of humanity. With this power, we make decisions every hour of every day that either lead us toward joy unspeakable and full of glory, or toward unspeakable disappointment and misery.

King David understood this when he declared in Psalm 118:24, "This is the day which the Lord hath made. We will rejoice and be glad in it." Notice the choice embedded in those words—"we will rejoice." Not "we might" or "we should," but "we will." It's a decision made before circumstances dictate emotion.

The apostle Paul offered perhaps the most liberating advice in all of Scripture when he wrote in Philippians 3:13: "Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended, but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forth unto those things which are before."

Think about that for a moment. Paul, who had incredible spiritual experiences and achievements, made it his practice to forget what lay behind. Whether your past contains great successes or devastating failures, the principle remains the same: stop looking backward.

Too many people waste precious energy fighting battles that have already been lost or celebrating victories that have already been won. The greatest waste in our modern world isn't electricity or gasoline—it's emotional and intellectual energy spent fighting the inevitable situations of life.

You cannot change the death of a loved one. Hebrews 9:27 reminds us that it's appointed for each person to die once. You cannot undo the words spoken in anger that destroyed a relationship. You cannot reverse the foolish choices your adult children make despite your best efforts to raise them right. You cannot help that life sometimes deals unfair hands.

When we fight these unchangeable realities, we develop ulcers. We grow bitter and resentful. We become twisted on the inside, negative in our thinking, and sometimes hateful in our disposition. Some people literally die because they cannot move on from what happened or what was said.

We spend all our time looking in the rearview mirror while bodies pile up in front of us—opportunities God sends, people He places in our path to offer help and hope—and we run right over them because we're too focused on what's behind.

Consider Moses, the great lawgiver and liberator of Israel. Four thousand years later, his name is still known worldwide. Yet this man was a murderer, Egypt's public enemy number one, a fugitive from justice who spent forty years tending sheep in the wilderness. Despite this past, he walked into Pharaoh's palace and demanded, "Let my people go!"

Or think about David, the shepherd boy who killed Goliath and led Israel into its golden era. This same man committed adultery and murdered his lover's husband in cold blood. Yet God called him "a man after my own heart" (Acts 13:22). How? Because David knew how to repent, move forward, and not let his past define his future

There exists a therapeutic phrase in the human vocabulary that produces miraculous results when genuinely applied: "Get over it."

Been hurt? Get over it. Been criticized? Get over it. Been betrayed? Get over it. Been fired? Get over it. Failed and fell flat on your face? Get over it.

This isn't callousness—it's liberation. It's impossible to estimate the number of jobs lost, promotions missed, sales not made, marriages ruined, and churches destroyed by people who could never get past something done to them.

The reality is that every single person has been hurt. Some have been hurt deeply and repeatedly. There's truth in the saying that "hurt people hurt people." But some have learned the secret of moving forward. They've learned that with God's help, they can overcome. They don't have to keep looking in that rearview mirror.

Paul wrote in 1 Thessalonians 5:18, "In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you." The same man who could do all things through Christ also knew the secret of thanksgiving in every circumstance.

Death and life are in the power of the tongue (Proverbs 18:21). What you speak has a strange and powerful way of becoming reality. When someone repeatedly says, "I wish I were dead," they invite the spirit of death to invade their life. When an expectant mother says, "I don't want this baby," she pronounces a curse on that child. When a couple declares their marriage a failure, they seal its doom.

Stop saying "if" and start saying "I will." Stop saying "it's impossible" and start declaring, "With God, nothing is impossible." Stop saying "I'm too old"—Moses was eighty when God called him into ministry and 120 when he walked to his own funeral.

If what you're doing produces no resistance, it's probably not worth doing. Without the resistance of water, a ship cannot float. Without the resistance of air, a plane cannot fly. Without Earth's gravity, we couldn't walk. A rubber band is only effective when stretched. Kites rise against the wind, not with it.

Resistance reveals value. When you're trying to reach someone and they're resisting, that's worth pursuing. When you're attempting something meaningful and obstacles appear, that's confirmation you're on the right path.

Think about it this way: opposition is necessary for victory to have meaning. God didn't remove the devil from the equation because we need an adversary to overcome. We need to experience what it means to conquer—to gain victory over drugs, alcohol, broken relationships, or mental torment. There's nothing quite like the feeling of finally conquering something that once held you captive.

Jeremiah 18:3 describes a visit to the potter's house: "Then I went down to the potter's house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels." The potter shapes clay with skilled hands that can detect any flaw. When he finds one, he stops the wheel, removes the imperfection, and starts again.

After shaping, the vessel goes into the fire and remains until it's done. How does the potter know when it's finished? He pulls it out and taps the edge. If it sings, it's done.

God is building Himself a bride—spotless, without imperfection, beautiful. He's shaping and molding her right now. That means He gives us chances to sing in the midst of adversity. If we sing, we're done. If we don't, back into the fire we go.

Peter wrote, "Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial, which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you" (1 Peter 4:12). We're not in the fire to be tormented but to be perfected.

The refiners of old knew when all imperfections were gone from gold because they could see their own reflection mirrored in it. When God can put us in the fire, pull us out, and see His image reflected in us, the trial ends.

Here's an old principle that still holds true: no deposit, no return. You can't make good coffee without putting good coffee in the pot. You can't have a thriving marriage without investing in it. You can't have a vibrant spiritual life without spending time with God.

When people complain they didn't get anything out of church, the principle applies: no deposit, no return. When someone says their marriage isn't working, the question becomes: what have you deposited? When life isn't coming together, examine what you've invested.

Philippians 4:13 declares, "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." This isn't empty positive thinking—it's a declaration of spiritual reality. The same power that raised Christ from the dead dwells in those who believe.

The can stops here. No more kicking it down the road. No more postponing the inevitable. No more avoiding the difficult conversations, the necessary changes, the hard decisions.

You have unlimited power if you have the Holy Spirit. One choice can give you a life full of unspeakable joy and glory. That choice is made every hour, every day. It's the choice to live in the Holy Ghost, to choose His presence, His peace, and His power.

Stop hugging the tree and whining because someone else got the fruit. It's time