Isaiah 43
ScriptureIsaiah 43:18-1918 “Forget the former things;do not dwell on the past.19 See, I am doing a new thing!Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?I am making a way in the wildernessand streams in the wasteland.Observation - What does it say?God is calling out to Israel to stop dwelling on the past and instead to look ahead to what he is doing. What he was doing was already springing up, but they were missing it because their focus was on the past.Understanding - What does it mean?Those who look back will miss what’s ahead.All throughout scripture we see this. Lot’s wife looked back when fleeing Sodom and Gomorrah and missed out on the good to come. Jesus said that anyone who puts his hand to the plow and then looks back isn’t fit for service in the kingdom. Yet it’s the tendency of human beings to look back and dwell on the past.The Israelites had just been delivered from slavery in Egypt through unparalleled miracles (referenced in the previous 2 verses). Yet, rather than looking ahead to where God was taking them, being filled with joy and excitement, some wished they were back in slavery because of the fish they were able to eat there! If only they knew the delicacies that awaited them in the Promised Land!Likewise, many Christians tend to look back and dwell on the past. Following Jesus is a lot like climbing a mountain with him. We begin our journey and recognize we have a long way to go. But after some time following Jesus and reaching higher altitudes of spiritual maturity, our tendency is to set up camp on the side of the mountain. We sit in our lawn chair, look down and admire how far we’ve come. We relish our past experiences and think of all the ways we’ve served God. We feel good about ourselves and many of us enter spiritual retirement there on the side of the mountain. All the while, Jesus is beckoning us to keep climbing up the mountain! There’s a summit to pursue! Our comfortable little camp here isn’t the destination Jesus had in mind when he said, “Come follow me.”Philippians 3:13b-14 “But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.Life ApplicationLook ahead to what God is doing!
Regardless of what we have experienced of God in the past, as long as we have breath in our lungs God has more in store for us and is beckoning us to follow him higher up the mountain.
What a better way to forget the past and look ahead to the new thing God is doing than to Pray and Fast together in January?! I’m excited to seek God together for the new and wonderful things he has in store for us. The best is yet to come!
God, thank you that you are always doing a new thing. Thank you that following you is always exciting, a suspenseful adventure! I can’t wait to seek you together in January and to be purposeful about letting go of the past so we can take hold of what’s to come. Amen.
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