Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.
When you are on the journey of having your soul healed, there comes a time when you have to make some critical decisions in order to move forward in a healthy way. In fact, making those decisions is a guaranteed way to make progress. One of them is to live according to God’s Word in every situation. One is to forgive those who have hurt you. And one is to let go of the past and dare to believe God has a great future in store for you.
People try to hold on to the past in different ways, but we must remember that the past is past and no amount of holding on to it will change it. We should enjoy each day that we have right now, and we cannot do that if we are living in the past. Enjoy today while looking forward to a great future. Expect something good to happen to you!
There are all kinds of physical, emotional, and mental reasons why people will not let go of the past. Sometimes they feel the past was wonderful and they don’t see how anything else could ever be so good, so they live in the past instead of enjoying the present and feeling hopeful about the future. Sometimes they can no longer do the things they once did, and instead of realizing their value in the present, they rest on their accomplishments from previous years.
As an example, let’s think about a great football quarterback who won championships and became known as one of the greatest of all time. In the height of his career, he sustained an injury so serious he could never play football again. For years afterward, he talked about “the good ol’ days” and how much he loved playing football, scoring touchdowns, and beating other teams. His sons and grandsons begged him to tell them how to throw, and the local high school team invited him to coach their young quarterback or even to give a motivational speech. He never did any of that because he was stuck in the past, unwilling to accept what had happened to him, let it go, and move forward.
Not all life-changing injuries affect the physical body. Debilitating things can also impact our minds and break our hearts. When those things happen, just like the quarterback, we can choose to fix our eyes on what life was like for us before those events and dwell on them for years, or we can decide to take Isaiah’s advice and not remember the past. We can look ahead in faith that God is doing a new thing and that the days before us can be better than the ones behind us.
Prayer of the Day: Father, in the name of Jesus, I choose today to let go of the past and embrace the bright future You planned for me. I know it will be good, amen.
