Breaking Free From The Past
"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?" - Isaiah 43:18–19
Your car has a large windshield and a small rearview mirror for a very specific reason. The manufacturer designed the car so you would spend far more time looking at where you are going than where you have been. Yet in the journey of life, many of us drive with our eyes glued to the rearview mirror, obsessing over past mistakes and missed exits, and as a result, we crash in the present.
God is not asking you to pretend your past never happened or to suppress your memories. He is calling you to stop letting your past drive your future. When God says to forget the former things, He means we should stop allowing past failures to dictate our present possibilities. The enemy loves to replay your worst moments on a loop, hoping to paralyze you with shame, but God wants to write new chapters in your story. He specializes in taking broken pieces and creating beautiful mosaics because He is doing a new thing right now. If your focus is locked on yesterday, you will miss the fresh grass springing up today. You cannot embrace the new thing God is doing if your hands are still clutching the old things.
I once counseled a woman who could not stop rehearsing a mistake she made twenty years prior, allowing it to define her identity and limit her relationships. She told me she just couldn't get over it, but I gently reminded her that she wasn't supposed to just get over it; she was supposed to get through it with God's help and then leave it at the cross. We prayed together for the strength to let go, and over the next few months, I watched her countenance change as she finally released that burden. She began to see the new thing God was doing in her grandchildren, and joy finally returned to her eyes.
Write down one specific thing from your past that you have been holding onto. Pray over it, ask God to take the weight of it, and then tear up the paper as a physical symbol of releasing it to God.
Lord, help me to release the grip my past has on my heart. I choose to believe that You are doing a new thing in my life right now. Give me eyes to see the fresh opportunities You are placing before me and the courage to step into them. In Jesus' name, Amen.
Your car has a large windshield and a small rearview mirror for a very specific reason. The manufacturer designed the car so you would spend far more time looking at where you are going than where you have been. Yet in the journey of life, many of us drive with our eyes glued to the rearview mirror, obsessing over past mistakes and missed exits, and as a result, we crash in the present.
God is not asking you to pretend your past never happened or to suppress your memories. He is calling you to stop letting your past drive your future. When God says to forget the former things, He means we should stop allowing past failures to dictate our present possibilities. The enemy loves to replay your worst moments on a loop, hoping to paralyze you with shame, but God wants to write new chapters in your story. He specializes in taking broken pieces and creating beautiful mosaics because He is doing a new thing right now. If your focus is locked on yesterday, you will miss the fresh grass springing up today. You cannot embrace the new thing God is doing if your hands are still clutching the old things.
I once counseled a woman who could not stop rehearsing a mistake she made twenty years prior, allowing it to define her identity and limit her relationships. She told me she just couldn't get over it, but I gently reminded her that she wasn't supposed to just get over it; she was supposed to get through it with God's help and then leave it at the cross. We prayed together for the strength to let go, and over the next few months, I watched her countenance change as she finally released that burden. She began to see the new thing God was doing in her grandchildren, and joy finally returned to her eyes.
Write down one specific thing from your past that you have been holding onto. Pray over it, ask God to take the weight of it, and then tear up the paper as a physical symbol of releasing it to God.
Lord, help me to release the grip my past has on my heart. I choose to believe that You are doing a new thing in my life right now. Give me eyes to see the fresh opportunities You are placing before me and the courage to step into them. In Jesus' name, Amen.
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10 Comments
Boy did I need this today! Thank you for this encouragement. From Michigan.
Thank you so much Pastor Ed. I am blown away again today. I’m over here just trying to make it through this difficult time we are going through right now. Trying to keep my head up and my feet busy. How can I serve Thee Lord to sum it up. But inside there’s a storm brewing and you hit the nail on the head. Gods talking straight to my soul here. Yes. I believe and I believe for it. If only… and could it really be?
Thanks for sharing the Word. Israel, while in the desert remembered some small things they had in Egypt, forgetting the big gift of deliverance from slavery by God. I pray that I won’t forget and take for granted the best gift from God, His Son Jesus.
This is a word I HEAVILY needed today. Just been feeling this attack and not feeling good enough. I try to push forward and the feeling sweeps back through. I am going to do what you recommended, this breaks with me today! Amen
God did not lead the children out of Egypt as much as He was leading them into the Promised Land. He is the God of NOW, and of the Future. Thanks Pastor.
Wow - so incredibly timely. I was having so many flashbacks and replays of my wrongs last night it was crazy. Had to give it to God and run an extra couple of miles to finally break free of the rehashing and pain. Going to look through the windshield today.
Hit home great challenge in this devotion for the day. I buy this product they are shirt flannel shirts. I love them. But what I love the most is their slogan. It says Demons ? Behind me and so is my past. And they have this verse to go with it. Colossian 3:3 For ye are dead , and your life is hid with Christ in God. What better way to say it. Thank you Pastor Ed, just remember what Pastor Ed shared and remember this verse. Keep looking up y'all.
Amen ?
amén!
Lord is talking straight to my husband and I!
nMy husband’s children always talk about the past, my husband tries so hard to love to have a relationship with his son and daughter but they always go back as they are living their lives according to the negative things they hear from their mother. We have been praying taking it and leaving at the cross. Thank You Jesus Christ ?? we love you and your family Pastor Ed