“Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing 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. The wild beasts will honor me, the jackals and the ostriches, for I give water in the wilderness, rivers in the desert, to give drink to my chosen people, the people whom I formed for myself that they might declare my praise.”

‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭43‬:‭18‬-‭21‬ 

How often do we find ourselves stuck in our past failures? We beat ourselves up and sit in the past refusing to move forward and becoming discouraged. When we hold onto the past, we are unable to see the beautiful new work God wants to do. 

I have found that the enemy uses my failures against me. I become so discouraged because of how I messed up that I can’t move past it. Then I find myself much like the Israelites sitting in that wilderness of the past feeling like I can do nothing right and doubting God’s work in me. I can’t see that He wants to create something beautiful like a refreshing river in the desert. 

When we accept Christ as our Savior, we become a new creation. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” ‭‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭5‬:‭17‬ 

God is creating something new, something beautifully new. Sitting in the wilderness of past failures hinders the development of God’s beautiful new creation in us. God tells us to “remember not the former things”. He is “doing a new thing”. It’s a hard lesson, and one I still struggle with mastering, but letting go of the past leads to allowing God to do a new and beautiful work in us.