Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.
See, I am doing a new thing!
Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the wilderness
and streams in the wasteland.
Isaiah 43:18-19
Dwelling in the past robs us of our present and sabotages our future. God speaks to us powerfully through the prophet Isaiah when He says, “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.”
He does not tell us to erase the past or ignore it. He does not say we should not apologize for our part in past sins, or release forgiveness for what was done to us.
He says, do not dwell on the past. Don’t live there! Is your past—either what you have done or what was done to you—eating you alive? Is your past on a loop in your mind, replaying the pain and hurt, day after day?
Just as it’s impossible physically to walk without stumbling while looking over our shoulder, so we cannot function in life if we are consumed with looking back—dwelling on—the past.
Those old hurts, conversations, disappointments, all the shoulda/woulda/couldas, are behind us. We cannot go back and change what has happened, and dwelling on these things only adds to the pile of regret, shame, and sadness. It makes our present another layer heaped onto the sad pile of the past.
What is the way forward?
How can we move on?
Is it possible to make our today and tomorrow different from our yesterday?
Yes. With God. He is the way-maker.
He wants to do a new thing. He will make a way for it to happen. Yes … even in the wilderness of your life, Isaiah says, as he paints a beautiful, hopeful picture of “streams in the wasteland.”
Regrets. We all have them. They may be professional, behavioral, mental, emotional, or relational.
The relational ones, at least for me, are the heaviest to bear. I made so many mistakes raising my children. As I was lamenting these regrets and crying out to God, “Oh, if only you would turn back the clock. I would do so many things differently.”
God spoke to me in that moment. He has spoken to me many times. While never an audible voice, I know when it is Him. I heard His voice in my heart: Laura, even if I were to do that, you would not do anything differently. Life has taught you many lessons. You needed to live to learn them.
Profound words from a wise and compassionate God. Life-changing words.
Life is indeed a classroom. What happens to us, what we do and do not do, all become lessons to be learned for the future. A teachable spirit means we learn from the wrong choices and allow those lessons to shape future decisions. Refusing to learn, on the other hand, means we may make the same mistakes over, and over, and over yet again.
Owning what I’ve done wrong, asking forgiveness, and releasing forgiveness have all helped me to realize: It’s what you do next that counts.
The Gospel—the good news—means that in Christ we no longer need to be defined by our past. If we could fix it on our own, the Cross would not have been necessary.
Do you know my Jesus? Have you acknowledged your sin and need for forgiveness? If you are forgiven by Him, is it time to forgive yourself? It’s time to MOVE ON … stop dwelling in the past and start living in the present!
Are you ready for His new thing? If so, stop dwelling on the past!
This week was the first of our Spring study in II Kings! We hope you’ll enjoy the introductory teaching video here:
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