Don't Get Stuck in the Past

"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 wilderness

and streams in the wasteland."

Isaiah 43:18-19

God's words to His people Israel, through His prophet Isaiah.

God was calling His people to not get so caught up in the past that they missed what God was doing right now. He wanted them to see what He was doing currently.

God didn't want His people to be so focused on things that had happened in their past, that they missed how He was making a way for them now. The way He had done things in the past was great. But, if they just focused on that, they ran the risk of missing the different way that God could be doing something today.

I think we face the same danger in our lives.

We have an experience where God does something and then we keep looking for Him to do things the same way in the future. And while we're looking for Him to do the same thing, we miss that He is doing something new in the present.

We miss the way that God is working now, because we're so caught up in looking for a repeat of what God did in the past.

We can also be held back by things in our past that we wish were different. We keep looking back at what happened and wishing it was different. We dwell on it and we stay stuck there.

But, the truth is God wants to do something new now. We're so stuck in the past, that we miss the way God is working now. He wants to do something new in our lives. But, if we're stuck on the things of the past, we can miss it.

We miss the way God is working now, because we're looking backwards at what has already happened and wishing it was different.

How are you doing at seeing what God is doing now?

Are you expecting God to keep doing things the same way and possibly missing something new He's doing now?

Are you stuck in the past and missing what God is doing now?

Do you want to see the new things that God is doing now?

Can't Change God's Love for Us

There's nothing you can confess that will make God love you less.

I saw this on a church sign I drove past the other day. It caught my attention because it is so true.

Scripture makes it pretty clear that God loves us even when we're not living exactly the way He has called us to live. That doesn't mean God wants us to keep living that way. He doesn't want us to stay in our sin.

But no matter what we confess, God won't love us any less. He already knows we did it anyway, so why are we afraid to confess it to Him?

I wonder sometimes if it's because we have this idea that some sins are worse than others. A ranking system of sorts if you will. And that there are some things that if we confessed them, God would love us less.

But there is nothing like that in Scripture.

Scripture tells us that Jesus died for us while we were still sinners (Romans 5:8). And that sin is sin is sin. Paul tells us over and over in his letters that we need to deal with sin in our lives. And no where in his lists of things we need to get rid of in our lives does he say some sins are worse than others - all are on the same level in his writing.

If sin isn't ranked by God, then nothing we confess will change how He views us or feels about us. We can confess exactly what we struggle with to God. And find the freedom that comes with that. We don't have to worry that what we have to confess will change how God sees us.

God doesn't want us to stay in our sin though. So when we confess it, He also wants to change us so we don't live that way anymore. Because He loves us that much.

There is nothing you can confess

that will make God love you less.

Five Minute Friday: Belong

Once again, joining in with the group over at Lisa-Jo Baker's blog for Five Minute Friday. Five minutes of unedited writing on a given word, and then we share it. Today's word is "belong."

 

Sitting at the edge of the room. Watching the groups of people greet each other with joy. Listening to the buzz of conversation.

She didn't really feel like she belonged here. She felt like she was on the outside looking in.

All she wanted was to belong. To find one friend - one person who would greet her with joy. Was that really too much to ask?


She got in her car to drive to another social event. Another event where she knew she would just be sitting on the edge of the group. She just hoped she would be close enough to a group of people to look like she belonged.

She never really felt like she belonged in a group of people. She always felt like she was just on the outside looking in, when all she wanted was to belong. Was that too much to ask?


She walked into the room. Expecting much of the same as every time - to hang out at the edges of the group. Just hoping she wouldn't look like she was totally alone.

But, this time was different. Someone welcomed her. Someone started a conversation and really wanted to get to know her.

She didn't spend the evening alone. Or trying to look like she fit in.

Tonight she really did fit in. She felt like she belonged. It was a night she wouldn't forget.


As she drove home that night she decided that the next time she went to a social event she would look for those who had been like she was. She would look for those on the edges just hoping to belong. And she would make them feel like they belonged. She knew the power of one conversation - of one person caring. And she was going to pass that on to others.