When Yesterday Loses Its Grip

"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.” - Isaiah 43:18–19

Your past has a voice, but it doesn't have a vote in your future. The enemy loves to use your history as a weapon against your destiny. He whispers that because of what you've done or what was done to you, you are disqualified from God's best. But God specializes in making all things new.

The Israelites had a habit of looking backward instead of forward. When things got difficult in the wilderness, they would romanticize their slavery in Egypt. They forgot the pain and remembered only the familiarity. Sometimes we do the same thing with our past sins and hurts. We become comfortable with our dysfunction because it's what we know.

God is not asking you to pretend your past didn't happen. He is asking you to stop letting it define your future. Your mistakes can become your message. Your pain can become your purpose. Your test can become your testimony. But only if you are willing to let God transform your yesterday into tomorrow's victory.

I know people who have been set free from drug addiction and are now helping others find freedom. I know people who survived abuse and are now advocates for victims. I know people who failed in business and are now teaching others how to succeed. God doesn't waste anything when you surrender it to Him.

Identify one area of your past that you have been allowing to limit your future. Ask God to show you how He can use that experience for good in your life and the lives of others.

Prayer: 
Lord, I thank You that my past does not determine my future. Help me to stop looking backward and start looking forward to what You are doing in my life. Transform my pain into purpose and my mess into a message. I trust You to make all things work together for good. In Jesus' name, Amen.