Are You Stuck In The Past? Series

The first seven verses tell of God’s faithfulness to his people, here the people of Israel. But in reality, this speaks of God’s character, which is true throughout all of time. So we see that God will be with us and remain faithful to us. Verses 8-13 speak of God telling his people that they are his witnesses. The rest of the chapter speaks of what God is going to be doing for his people. And here, let’s focus on verses 18-19.

18 "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 desert

and streams in the wasteland.

Now, who’s speaking here? God! What is he telling us to do? Two things—forget the past, look and see what I’m doing now.

For the Israelites, he was telling them how he was going to deliver them. In fact, he says it just a few verses earlier. Remember how I saved you through the parting of the seas in leaving Egypt? Forget that. I’m going to do something completely different. Something that will blow your mind, but that which will ultimately redeem you.

And the same God who said to his people over 2500 years ago—forget the past, look and see what I’m doing now, says the same thing to us.

To the one who has blown it, made more mistakes than you can count: forget the past. I give new slates every day (that’s what we talked about last week—hope because God gives us do overs). To the one who wishes for the good old days—forget them. Forget them, because God’s now into different things. To the one who is lonely, forget those thoughts—I’m with you right now, and I’m making a way for you.

The point is this—you may be living in the past, looking toward it, reliving it, longing for it. God says, forget it. Look to me, he says. I’m doing a new thing.

Here’s the reassurance, found in Isaiah 43. 20 The wild animals honor me, the jackals and the owls, because I provide water in the desert and streams in the wasteland, to give drink to my people, my chosen, 21 the people I formed for myself that they may proclaim my praise.

You may be overwhelmed because of what has happened and unsure of what the future holds because of what has happened in the past. God says, forget it. Don’t dwell on it. Don’t let it consume you. Don’t let it run and ruin your life. Because I’m doing something great in your life. I’m going to do something great, something new, something you’ve never expected.

You know what it is? The Bible gives us a hint in Philippians 1:6. Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

That means that no matter what, God is working in your life. He may work through the tragedies that occur. He may work through the good times, and through the bad. The certain thing is, he is working. He is doing something new. And he invites us to forget what might have happened, and look and see what he is doing now. Because he is the God who makes the way for his people.

And for the coming New Year, I can’t think of a better message for the church. The worst thing that a church can do is settle for the same old things, the same old way of doing things, because God may have moved on to something different. Now, I’m not suggesting that we change everything, but here’s what I am saying. Are we stuck in the past, while God is calling us to look and see what he’s doing now?