“Remember not the events of the past,
Isaiah 43:18-19
the things of long ago consider not; See, I am doing something new!"
This beautiful description of God’s mercy and call to new life is so relevant for every day of our lives. Something new sounds so fun and inviting. Yet embracing something new requires CHANGE – that big, scary word that sets fear in many people’s hearts. Life is filled with change – in our families as children grow and parents, siblings, and friends age, and in our workplaces, churches, communities, and world as new leadership and visions emerge. Through all the changes, big and small, God calls us to leave behind our past.
While our past life journeys indeed help to form who we are today, we are not to cling to the way things were, routines, practices, places, or even people. But rather we are called to be fully open to God’s new life each day, allowing ourselves to grow and be transformed into new creations. And that is a challenge because as humans we seek those routines and familiar patterns of life to provide comfort and peace of mind.
While this peace of mind is true on some level, at a deeper level it is only through letting go that we find deep peace. Letting go of all the many things we cannot control anyway – what people think, how people act, what is decided politically or by workplace leadership, our aging bodies, death itself. When faced with these uncontrollable situations, how much more productive would our time be spent looking at how God is molding, shaping, and transforming us through these changes? How might our stress level be reduced by wondering and seeking what good God is bringing from every situation, instead of railing against it or trying to rein it in.
There is a trusting hopefulness in this stance. One that trusts in God who knows us better than we know ourselves, loves us more than any human being could ever love us, and who is always seeking what is best for us, even if that journey might be painful or difficult for a season.
Change happens all the time and out of that change comes new life. We can fight that or embrace it. It is a choice we must make every day, every hour, and every minute. Embrace the journey!
Als ich diesen Beitrag gelesen habe, musste ich sofort an den Sommer zurückdenken, als ich mit meiner kleinen Schwester an einem verregneten Nachmittag im Hinterhof ein altes, klappriges Karussell reparierte. Wir hatten keine Anleitung, nur ein paar Schrauben, viel Geduld und die Idee, dass das Lachen uns wieder nach vorne treiben würde. Nach Stunden des Griffelns und ein paar misslungenen Versuchen drehte sich das Karussell endlich und wir sprangen drauf, schreiend vor Freude, während die Tropfen vom Himmel wie kleine Feuerwerke auf uns fielen. Dieses Bild hat mir gezeigt, dass Freude oft in den einfachen, selbstgemachten Momenten steckt, wenn man sich erlaubt, kindliche Neugier und ein bisschen Sturheit zu kombinieren. Vielleicht liegt das Geheimnis darin, das eigene Herz wieder zu…
Your piece hit close to home because I’ve been wrestling with the same tension for years. When I was in college, I spent months obsessing over a failed research project that had once seemed so promising. Every time I opened a new textbook I caught myself replaying that disappointment, wondering if I’d ever recover my confidence. It wasn’t until a professor gently reminded me that the value of learning lies in the process, not the outcome, that I finally let go of the past and focused on the present assignment https://ndh.org.au/ Since then, I’ve learned to treat each new challenge as a fresh canvas rather than a continuation of past mistakes. It’s funny how a simple shift in perspective can…