“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?” - Isaiah 43:18-19

Your car has a large windshield and a small rearview mirror for a very specific reason. The manufacturer designed the car so you would spend far more time looking at where you are going than where you have been. Yet in the journey of life, many of us drive with our eyes glued to the rearview mirror, obsessing over past mistakes and missed exits, and as a result, we crash in the present.

God is not asking you to pretend your past never happened or to suppress your memories. He is calling you to stop letting your past drive your future. When God says to forget the former things, He means we should stop allowing past failures to dictate our present possibilities. The enemy loves to replay your worst moments on a loop, hoping to paralyze you with shame, but God wants to write new chapters in your story. He specializes in taking broken pieces and creating beautiful mosaics because He is doing a new thing right now. If your focus is locked on yesterday, you will miss the fresh grass springing up today. You cannot embrace the new thing God is doing if your hands are still clutching the old things.

I once counseled a woman who could not stop rehearsing a mistake she made twenty years prior, allowing it to define her identity and limit her relationships. She told me she just couldn’t get over it, but I gently reminded her that she wasn’t supposed to just get over it; she was supposed to get through it with God’s help and then leave it at the cross. We prayed together for the strength to let go, and over the next few months, I watched her countenance change as she finally released that burden. She began to see the new thing God was doing in her grandchildren, and joy finally returned to her eyes.

Write down one specific thing from your past that you have been holding onto. Pray over it, ask God to take the weight of it, and then tear up the paper as a physical symbol of releasing it to God.

Lord, help me to release the grip my past has on my heart. I choose to believe that You are doing a new thing in my life right now. Give me eyes to see the fresh opportunities You are placing before me and the courage to step into them. In Jesus’ name, Amen.