"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 desert and streams in the wasteland. " --vv. 18,19
READ: Isaiah 43:14-21, kjv
An old country western song title "there ain't no future in the past " rings a bell of truth. The past can lock us in a prison of disappointment and regret. Like a bad TV Sport commentator we can focus on depressing errors and missed opportunities. We replay them in our minds until we lose all hope. We say to ourselves, "I 'm never going to forget how I got hurt! or "I ' ll always battle this bad habit! "
A child of a messy divorce may feel she will never be able to trust enough to make a marriage commitment. An overweight mother may feel she will always fight against a food addiction after failing every possible diet. The pain of the past can squelch hope and prevent us from seeing the hand of god at work in each new day.
Isaiah urges us to wake up to new beginnings god hold for us, "roadways in the wilderness and rivers in desert. "
God, I want to trust you to do more than I can imagine.
