Begin Again

Have you ever wished you could start over and do something different? Do you ever find yourself pondering on…..”If only…….?”Do you long for the simplicity of yesterday? Helen Reddy quoted:

“Hindsight is wonderful. It’s always very easy to second guess after the fact.”

Merriam-Webster defines hindsight as “perception of the nature of an event after it has happened.”

The meaning of the word rings so true in so many of us. How often do we do or say something or take a job or move across state only to realize it was a big mistake. Regret, shame and yearning for something different are enemies of God and will still our hope and joy if we are not careful. But God says in Isaiah 43:18 to “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.” He is telling us to stop thinking about the things that are bringing us down. Forget about what happened in the past. It is finished! The painful memories and the hurts you endured are over. Stop allowing them to control your future. Isaiah 43:19 says:

“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 dessert.”

So often, we can not move forward in the blessings God has available for us because we are holding on to something that happened in the past. We could be holding on to a broken relationship, abuse, abandonment, a traumatic event, a past sin, or a past failure so tightly that we begin to let it shape our lives and our future. The pain runs deep and we begin to define ourselves by this pain. God is telling us to let go of the past. He wants to do a new thing in each and every one of us. We can not grab hold of the future until we let go of the past.

I’m going to be honest with you here. Being in ministry, there have been some churches that I have loved and some that I would have rather not have been in. I would begin to wonder if we somehow made a mistake coming to this church and long to go back to another church or leave ministry altogether. However, when God would move us from those hurtful churches to a new church, the past hurts and pains caused by the congregants would follow me inhibiting me from being what the people needed from a pastor’s wife. I was carrying past hurt with me and putting up walls between them and me. I was ineffective at what God was calling me to be. Not until I let go of the past and let God heal me could I walk in the fullness of His calling.

We are not defined by what other people say about us. We are not defined by our past hurts and pain. We are defined by the God who created the universe and He says:

You are beautiful…Psalm 139:14

You are God’s workmanship……Ephesians 2:10

You are strong and courageous……Joshua 1:9

You are victorious………1 Corinthians 15:57

You are loved…….John 3:16

You are a new creation…….2 Corinthians 5:17

I read something the other day and I want to share it with you. It said: “Just because something is broken and beat up, doesn’t mean it is any less valuable. You are so valuable to God. He wants to do a new thing in your life. New means not existing before. He wants to create something new in you that has never been there before.

Isaiah 48:6-7 says:

“You have heard; See all this. And will you not declare it? I have made you hear new things from this time, Even hidden things, and you did not know them. They are created now and not from the beginning; And before this day you have not heard them.”

Would you be willing to give Jesus your past so He can make something beautiful for your future? As you release the pain of yesterday to Him, it will begin to lose its power over you and you can be free to be all that God created you to be. You were never made to wallow around in yesterday. You were made to soar on high Daughter of the King.

I pray that you can begin to let go and let God work in you so that you can find Joy in Today.