*This was posted on Dec 28, before 2017 began…*
“Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old.
I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth – do you not perceive it?
I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert”
Isaiah 43:18-19
If you’re anything like me, you are looking forward to 2016 being in the rearview mirror.
Only two more days and we can start over.
Yet it’s not always that easy to just up and leave the previous year behind.
As much as I want to just say “peace out 2016” and leave it in the past forever, it’s only one day different.
It’s not like anything magical happens between Dec 31 and Jan 1.
And it’s not like 2017 comes along and erases 2016.
It’s still there. All the things that happened don’t just go away.
Yet in two days, we celebrate a new year, and a new beginning.
These two verses from Isaiah seem to be perfect for ending the old and beginning the new.
“do not remember the former things” God reminds us.
There are a few verses in Luke’s gospel where Jesus tells his followers to just up and follow, to not even go back to their homes and say goodbye or tie up any loose ends.
That seems kind of harsh right?
But Jesus reminds is that there is no looking back.
What’s done is done. What’s in the past is in the past.
And all things, even the worst moments of 2016, the loved ones we’ve lost, the diagnoses we’ve heard, the treatments we’ve endured, they are all a part of the past.
I know. Easier said than done.
But there’s a reason why we’re asked to stop looking at the stuff that has already gone by.
God says to us: “I am about to do a new thing”
Some translations even have this verse starting with “look.”
LOOK – I am making new stuff happen. Right now.
You can’t see the new thing in front of you if you are looking behind you.
2016 is almost gone. (praise Jesus)
It’s almost in the rearview..
And whether it was the best year or worst year ever, spending time looking back at it doesn’t do a whole lot of good.
So we look forward.
2017 is here.
It’s brand new.
And God is in it – God is always in it.
Making rivers in the desert and paths in wild places.
Working for us, staying with us, no matter what this new year brings.
Happy New Year Uplifters –
Glad we’re in it together!
