Thus says God the Lord, Who created the heavens and stretched them out, Who spread forth the earth and that which comes from it, Who gives breath to the people on it, and spirit to those who walk on it: “I, the Lord, have called You in righteousness, and will hold Your hand […] Behold, the former things have come to pass, and new things I declare; before they spring forth I tell you of them” (Isaiah 42:5-6, 9).
We are in a new day at The Fellowship. When we dedicated Fellowship Road, the Lord told me it was a prophetic road; it symbolized in the natural something which the Lord was accomplishing in the spiritual realm. Whereas before, there was no roadway, no entrance into the church at that point, now there has been a road carved where fore there was a “wilderness.” Likewise, there is now a way by which many can come to the lord’s work here; perhaps, up to now, they have been unresponsive or unable to come, but the Lord has carved out a way to make it possible for them to come and partake of what the Lord is providing here. We look expectantly to Him as we walk into this new season.
In Isaiah 42, we read that the Lord established Who He is: the Lord of all creation and the Lord Who gives us our breath. This same, all-powerful God reassures us by saying that He “will hold your hand.” What love and tenderness! Think about it. In order for someone to hold your hand, that person has a hold of you, so you are not alone, you are not defenseless, and you will not go the wrong way. Now imagine the God of all creation holding your hand! What comfort and confidence that inspires!
He goes on to say, “behold, the former things have come to pass.” Good or bad, former things are just that- former things. Yesterday’s news. If they are testimonies of good that came about, we must never forget them, but we must keep them in proper perspective. We cannot live in the past. We become pathetic if our future is caught up in retelling old stories about the good-old days. We forfeit a future if we pine away recalling the old days while disdaining our present and dreading the future.
If the former days are days of woe or days when our bad choices caused us to sin against God and others, we do have to own up. We do have to ask God for forgiveness. We must ask those whom we have wronged for forgiveness and make amends, but then, we must recognize former things for what they are: the past.
Because of God’s grace, the past does not define us. It does not dictate a bleak future. It does not impose a sentence that can cancel God’s plans for us and the new things He will do.
Today, if your “former things” (sometimes also known as baggage) threaten your present or seem to diminish your future, determine to see them as past, and set your focus on Jesus, Who makes all things new.