“Forget about what’s happened;
don’t keep going over old history.
Be alert, be present. I’m about to do something brand-new.
It’s bursting out! Don’t you see it?
There it is! I’m making a road through the desert,
rivers in the badlands."
Isaiah 43:19 MSG
HAPPY NEW YEAR! Whether it was a good, bad or ugly year for you, 2018 is over and done. We have to let it go. We cannot re-live the good things that happened to us in 2018. They are over and gone. We cannot have a do over for the things we regret about 2018-our sins, our failures, our mistakes. The only thing we can do is to repent, press delete, and move on.
We cannot live in the future either. We can plan, but we can't predict what will come our way.
The thing is, we can waste our life away, waste our present, when we spend our here and now regretting the past or mourning the passing of time. We can, likewise, fritter away this moment worrying about what may come in the future.
God wants us to be alert and present in the here and now in our life. He wants us to let Him cleanse us from our sins, failures and mistakes of the past and to help us to turn from them, learn from them, and move on. He wants us to let go of the unforgiveness and bitterness from past hurts we've experienced and to heal us from their lasting effects. Constantly looking back on our unhealed hurts, unmet needs, unresolved issues, our mistakes, our failures, or our sins keeps us bound to the pain and trapped in the past. God wants to break the chains that keep us bound to the pain.
God also wants us to trust Him with our future. We can have hope for our future if we spend our today alert and present. Being alert and present in our now will help us to be prepared for the future because we will be attentive to God's voice and yielded and obedient to the directions He gives us in regards to what is to come. Meanwhile, we will be able to treasure and experience with gratitude the gifts that each day brings.
Stay present. Stay in God's presence. Let go of the past. Trust God with the future. 2019 is going to be a great year!
Such a good reminder. I want to be present, alert, and trusting God for the year ahead!
ReplyDeleteMe, too!
ReplyDelete" Being alert and present in our now will help us to be prepared for the future because we will be attentive to God's voice and yielded and obedient to the directions " Wow, Elizabeth! There are many good reasons to live in the present - but this one really struck a chord today. Enlightening perspective! Blessings on your Sabbath!
ReplyDeleteGod gave me that insight!
DeleteMy grandfather died when I was in college. I loved him with all my heart, but he was an object lesson for me as I was growing up because he spent most of his life dwelling on the past. He was stuck in it, and it never allowed him to move forward. This is a wonderful, thoughtful post.
ReplyDelete