I Look Not Back (Poem + Printable)

There are seasons when looking back feels heavy and looking ahead feels uncertain. Regrets surface easily. Worries about what’s coming crowd in just as quickly. In moments like that, it can be hard to stay present and restful, even when we know where our trust belongs.

I first heard this poem quoted years ago in a message by Alistair Begg, and its words have returned to me often, especially during seasons when faith feels quieter and trust must be chosen again.

Why This Poem Is So Comforting

I Look Not Back gives words to feelings many of us recognize but don’t always know how to name. Regret over what cannot be changed. Weariness from trials that keep returning. Uneasiness about what lies ahead.

Rather than asking us to fix any of it, the poem quietly shifts our focus. Each stanza turns our eyes away from what cannot steady us and gently lifts them toward the One who can.

It reminds us that peace is not found by replaying the past, worrying over the future, or measuring our own strength. Peace comes when our eyes are lifted—again and again—to Christ.

A Print-Friendly Poem Printable

For those who would like to spend more time with this poem, I’ve created a clean, print-friendly version designed for easy reading and home printing.

It’s meant to be read slowly, returned to often, or kept nearby as a quiet reminder when looking backward or forward feels heavy.

Download the Print-Friendly Poem

I Look Not Back

Annie Johnson Flint

I look not back; God knows the fruitless efforts,
The wasted hours, the sinning, the regrets.
I leave them all with Him who blots the record,
And graciously forgives, and then forgets.

I look not forward; God sees all the future,
The road that, short or long, will lead me home,
And He will face with me its every trial,
And bear for me the burdens that may come.

I look not round me; then would fears assail me,
So wild the tumult of earth’s restless seas,
So dark the world, so filled with woe and evil,
So vain the hope of comfort and of ease.

I look not inward; that would make me wretched;
For I have naught on which to stay my trust.
Nothing I see save failures and shortcomings,
And weak endeavors, crumbling into dust.

But I look up ~ into the face of Jesus,
For there my heart can rest, my fears are stilled;
And there is joy, and love, and light for darkness,
And perfect peace, and every hope fulfilled.

Supporting Scripture 

Letting Go of the Past

• Psalm 32:1

• Psalm 103:12

Trusting God with What Lies Ahead

• Proverbs 3:5-6

• Deuteronomy 31:8

Finding Peace by Looking to Christ

• Hebrews 12:2

• Isaiah 26:3

Who Was Annie Johnson Flint?

The life of poet and hymn-writer Annie Johnson Flint (1866-1932) is a story marked by both heartbreak and quiet triumph.

Born on Christmas Eve in the small town of Vineland, New Jersey, Annie was welcomed by her parents, Eldon and Jean Johnson, as their greatest earthly gift. Just three years later, tragedy struck when her mother died while giving birth to Annie’s baby sister. Her father, already suffering from an incurable illness, was unable to care for the children and entrusted them to the Flint family, who raised Annie in the Baptist faith.

As she grew older, Annie’s life would continue to be shaped by suffering. She developed severe rheumatoid arthritis, a condition that caused increasing pain and physical limitation. Much of her adult life was spent confined to a wheelchair or bed, dependent on the care of others.

Yet it was from within these limitations that her poetry emerged.

Annie Johnson Flint wrote with remarkable clarity, humility, and trust in God. Her words do not minimize hardship or offer easy answers. Instead, they reflect a faith that was tested, chosen, and sustained over time. That hard-won trust is what gives her poetry its enduring resonance. It offers comfort without sentimentality and hope without denial of reality.

Ways to Sit with This Poem

This poem invites slow reflection. You might choose to:

• Read one stanza each day for a week
• Use it as a prayer, pausing after each verse
• Journal about what you’re tempted to carry that God invites you to release
• Share it with someone beginning a new season
• Print it and keep it nearby as a quiet encouragement

Scripture Connections

The message of I Look Not Back echoes familiar truths found throughout Scripture, including:

• Letting go of what is behind
• Trusting God with what lies ahead
• Finding peace by fixing our eyes on Christ

These themes appear again and again because we need them again and again.

I Look Not Back Poem by Annie Johnson Flint (Printable)

A print-friendly version of this poem is available
Created for easy reading and home printing, if you’d like to spend more time with these words.

>> Click here for  your FREE printable