Isaiah 43:19(NLT)
“For I am about to do something new. See, I have already Begun! Do you not see it?”
Every year my family and I go out of town to visit relatives for the holidays. Before we leave, I make sure to put a new calendar on the wall; it’s one of my pet peeves. I do this to remind myself that no matter what I faced in the past year, God is willing and able to bring newness into my life with each day. This is why the verse in Isaiah 43:19 resonates with me so deeply. We can become so filled with discontent about the upsets, mistakes, and disappointments of the past that we forget to be thankful for what God is doing now and what He’s promised to do in the future.
God tells us that He will blot out the sins we’ve committed if we are humble to seek His forgiveness. 1John 1:9 (NLT) says, “But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.” In Isaiah 43:25 (NLT), He tells us, “I—yes, I alone—will blot out your sins for my own sake and will never think of them again.” He wants us to know that He forgives us and doesn’t want us to carry around condemnation and shame in our hearts. He wants to see us happy and blest. He doesn’t look at us the way we look at each other or even the way we see ourselves. God sees the best in us, because He sees the Spirit of Christ living within. This is the way He wants us to see ourselves.
Many of us wish we could just let go of past mistakes, or those old bad behaviors and poor choices from the past. We should blot them out of our consciousness forever, just as God does, but we don’t. The other day, I was reminiscing about something from my past with my oldest daughter. She quickly said out loud, “Mom, when are you going to let that go?!” She may not have known what those words meant to me, but it was a quick reminder that some things are meant to be forgotten and never thought of or spoken of again.
Before the New Year approaches, if you haven’t done so already, now may be a good time to clear out your mind and heart of anything that doesn’t serve you well. If it hasn’t been working for you in the past, if it hasn’t brought you closer to your best life, odds are that it’s time to let it go. Anything that has held you back—people, relationships, or negativity of any kind—cut it loose, so you can make room for the new thing God has already begun!■
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
“It’s Already Begun!”, written by Kim Times, edited by Reverend Fran Mack for Sundie Morning Sistas ©2018. All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord! SMS is dedicated to inspiring and encouraging Christian Women through the Word of God.