Let’s begin by reading our text for today together…
“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
Have you ever seen a movie, or heard a story about someone who was constantly talking about their past? How about the anecdotal high school football quarterback who relives his state championship winning touchdown throw every Friday night at the local bar?
It raises the question, “What is it about the past that keeps our attention – even as time continues marching forward into the future?”
And to be fair, haven’t we all talked at some point about wanting things to “go BACK to how they used to be” at some point in our lives?” We often talk about the good old days when things were simpler, and life didn’t seem so chaotic.
Maybe the past is attractive because it is SAFER than the present. There aren’t going to be any PAINFUL surprises as we look backwards. Even if your history was horrible, at least you know what happened.
Obviously, the problem with this mindset is, we cannot very well MOVE forward if we spend so much time LIVING in the past.
So today, we are going to talk about LEAVING the past baggage behind us, for better or for worse, and moving confidently into the present reality of God’s provision for us.
So first, we are going to look at the idea of …
Leave the Past in the Past
The former things referred to in our text from Isaiah most likely was the Israelites Exodus from Egypt, and then their 40 year adventure wandering around in the wilderness.
Here are the Pharaoh’s words to the nation of Israel from Exodus 12:31…
“During the night Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “UP! Leave my people, you and the Israelites! Go worship the Lord as you have requested.”
At this point in history the Israelites were being granted freedom from over 400 years of slavery to the Egyptians. It’s hard to imagine what people were feeling as they packed up their homes, families, livestock, and started walking off into the wilderness towards the promised land.
It’s even harder to imagine they would ever want to GO BACK to the life of a slave, but as we now know … that’s exactly what they eventually wanted to do, as they wandered in the desert for several decades.
Wandering through the wilderness was hard. It was different from what they were used to. And many of them simply wanted to return to the way things used to be. Remember … all they had ever known was being a slave in Egypt.
Sound at all familiar?
Don’t think for a moment that you and I are any different than our distant Israelite relatives. In fact, listen to the encouragement Paul gives to the Galatian church…
“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” Galatians 5:1
On some level Paul is saying two things, (1) LEAVE the past in the past, and (2) stand firm in “the New Thing” … your new-found freedom. Don’t GO BACK to the way things used to be.
What if God has something new for you going forward? What if the new thing springs up right in front of you, but you do not see it because you are caught up staring into the past?
Jesus addressed this beautifully in Luke 9 when He says…
“No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.” Luke 9:62
Perhaps, God is encouraging us through these words in Luke to always be thinking and expecting that the …
Best is Yet to Come
As believers, we have an eternity in paradise with God, Jesus, and all the saints who went before us. That is why we “fix our eyes on Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith,” who set the example and went before us.
In the book of John, we are even told Jesus has a room prepared for us in His Father’s house. (John 14:2)
The same excitement you feel about an upcoming travel destination, a new job, a promotion, a graduation, or a retirement party, should pale in comparison to the excitement you feel when thinking about spending an eternity in heaven’s paradise.
And yet – many of us cannot feel and appreciate this excitement because we are trapped and bogged down by the baggage of this life, as we continue to look behind at things in the past.
My encouragement today is similar to last week… LET IT GO and MOVE FORWARD.
Life is an adventure full of twists and surprises. And yet at the same time, you have eternal assurance of where you will ultimately end up, regardless of these twists and surprises.
LIVE today like a person who is excited for and anticipating the most amazingly epic travel adventure of your life.
LIVE like the Best Is Yet to Come – even when you cannot see it. One way we can do that is to…
Walk by Faith Not by Sight
The truth is, it is way easier to believe God will do something new and good in your life, if you can see a blueprint of what it will look like.
Not many people will go blindly wandering out on an adventure without knowing where they are going, and yet on some level, that is what a life of faith can feel like sometimes.
We simply cannot be in control all the time. In fact, we probably control far less than we think we do.
We cannot stop other people’s choices from impacting our lives. And we cannot insulate ourselves from every potentially bad or damaging situation in life.
This is one thing this pandemic we are experiencing should have taught us. It is nearly impossible for us to insulate ourselves from the influence of other people.
But here is what we can always do … we can CHOOSE whether to hold onto our baggage or NOT. And we can choose every day to move forward – even if the path is unknown.
The Apostle Paul said it so beautifully in our second lesson this morning from 2 Corinthians 5…
“… if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God … who has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come … as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. For we live by faith, not by sight.”
Here Paul is saying a lot. But what I want to highlight is the idea that this world is not our home, this body is not our permanent body. And while we are here, we should long to be truly HOME with our Lord.
The Spirit was given to us as a GUARANTEE and PROMISE of the eternal life to come. That is the way God designed it.
So, we trust Him. We trust that the best is yet to come, as we walk by faith, and not by sight.
Remember the story of “doubting Thomas” in our Gospel lesson today? He is the one who heard about Jesus’ resurrection and said, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”
So, a week later Jesus appears and says to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”
Talk about awkward… Jesus told him to do the very thing Thomas said he had to do in order to believe. But then Jesus told him this…
“Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” John 20:24-29
Blessed are those who have NOT seen and yet have believed.
And that’s the challenge for all of us, isn’t it? … BELIEVE in Jesus.
In spite of our past … in spite of whatever trauma, pain, and disappointment you have known … and especially in spite of the unknown adventure the future here on earth holds … believe in Jesus.
God is doing new things in our lives. He has something for us here in the present, as well as, again in the future.
He has told us that He has prepared a place for us… an eternal home.
So, keep an eye out for Jesus this week. Choose to walk in the freedom you have in Christ. Let go of all your past baggage and travel light in your new-found freedom. Amen