Welcome to Former Things!

I’ve always considered myself a forward-thinking type of person. I live by my color-coded Google Calendar and prefer to have events and outings scheduled weeks, if not months, in advance. I am constantly evaluating the path of my academic career, saving parenting techniques from Instagram for children that my non-existent husband and I have not had yet, and planning for all possible outcomes when making present-day decisions. While I do believe all of this has contributed to what I consider success in my short life so far, I also recognize it for what it is at its ugly core: anxiety. Merriam-Webster defines anxiety as an apprehension for anticipated things, things that are impending or approaching. By nature, my anxiety reveals me to be a future-oriented person, even if that orientation gives me extreme apprehension and unease.

You might be wondering why I would name a blog for forgetting the past if I have just self-disclosed myself has a future-focused individual. Shouldn’t I write something about the future? Not only is it my expertise, but there are over 300 verses in the Bible to choose from about not worrying about the future! Surely, it would make more sense to base my blog on those? To that, I say: “yes, and…” Yes, to not fear the future is a crucial idea in the Bible that I will address in this devotion and to address the future, we must first address the past. I believe that releasing the past is the trigger we need to embrace the present and look to the future. First, let’s forget the former things—then we can worry (er, not worry) about the future.

There are numerous Bible verses that speak about the past. My favorite of the lot is the one for which this devotion is named after. The first 39 chapters of the book of Isaiah are filled with ridicule and condemnation for the sins of Israel and Judah. The remaining 27 books overflow with the hope of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The prophet Isaiah writes in 43:18-19, “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing!”

Don’t dwell on the past, there is more coming ahead of you!

Stop replaying that moment you called your teacher ‘Mom’ in second grade and it was incredibly embarrassing (seriously, my cheeks are turning pink just thinking about it now).

Quit adding to the mental list of things you wish you had done when you were younger, healthier, smarter, stronger.

Don’t keep obsessing over the comebacks you wish you had thought of during that lover’s quarrel.

Just forget about all of that and focus on what is ahead of you!

To all of these things answers an echo heard ‘round the world: It’s just not that easy. And its not, is it? It seems impossible to forget the hurtful words a former-friend wrote about you in a text message. It feels inconceivable that you will ever come back from this financial set back. It appears futile to move on from the person you just know is “the one.” The older I have gotten, and as I continue to live more life and learn more lessons, I fear that a lot of us actually feel more comfortable in the first half of Isaiah than the second. We are much better at wallowing than worshipping. We excel far more in fixating than we do in fruit-bearing. Whether we admit it or not, often it is easier to live in the past than to forget it.

Just a few chapters into the switch-up from sin to salvation, Isaiah tells the Israelites, Judeans, and the people of surrounding cities to forget about their past. If Isaiah is urging them to not remember the past, why did he spend 39 chapters recounting it? How in the world are we to reconcile Isaiah’s conflicting message?

Now, one thing I want to be crystal clear about from the get-go is that the past is not inherently bad. In fact, Scripture tells us the opposite!

“Do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them fade from your heart as long as you live.” Deuteronomy. 4:9

“Now these things happened as examples for us…” 1 Corinthians 10:6

We end up where we began: why are we being told to forget when we see evidence that it is important to remember? I invite you to consider that when the prophet Isaiah is prompting us to “forget the former things,” he is not asking us to completely disregard what has come before us in such a literal sense. Instead, forgetting the former things implies two things.

First, do not fixate on what you have already been freed from. The Bible teaches us to learn from our past, not to live there. We are called to move forward with ever-growing wisdom and knowledge not enslaved by our past but freed from it.

Second, do not let the past prohibit your present perspective. In verse 19, Isaiah tells us that God is actively paving new paths for us, if we’d only just look up! When we are focused on the past, the good or the bad, we are missing what is happening right in front of us. And Scripture tells us that God is doing a good thing right now!

There are even old adages dating back years and years that teach us the value of the past. American author and poet Maya Angelou wrote, “I have great respect for the past. If you don’t know where you’ve come from, you don’t know where you’re going.” Spanish-American philosopher George Santayana is credited with the adage, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

I said at the beginning that I have always considered myself a forward-focused person. Maybe you have, too. I wonder, though, if we have both underestimated the hold the past has on us. As you read the posts in this blog, I pray that you open yourself up to conviction. Perhaps you don’t realize there is a grudge you have been harboring for years. Maybe you have underestimated the affect someone’s words have had on you since they were uttered. Or, maybe you simply feel stuck, not knowing where you are or where you’re going. Wherever you find yourself, I hope these words find you there. One things is certain, though—Jesus is already here.