Isaiah 43:16-21 (NRSV)
Read Isaiah 43:16-21 on biblegateway.com
Verse 16Thus says the Lord, who makes a way in the sea, a path in the mighty waters, Verse 17who brings out chariot and horse, army and warrior; they lie down, they cannot rise, they are extinguished, quenched like a wick: Verse 18Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old. Verse 19I am about to do 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. Verse 20The wild animals will honor me, the jackals and the ostriches; for I give water in the wilderness, rivers in the desert, to give drink to my chosen people, Verse 21the people whom I formed for myself so that they might declare my praise.
Devotion
A quip traversing the internet recently says, "Don't look back; you're not going that way." God seems to say something similar to the Israelites in today's reading: "Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old. I am about to do a new thing." Why do we often gaze into life's rearview mirror, instead of out the windshield? Why is it hard to stop dwelling on past events—good or bad—to free ourselves for the new gifts God has for us in the present? What's worse, despite the familiar adage, hindsight is not always 20/20. Consider the recently liberated Hebrews pining for the food of Egypt, apparently forgetting they had bought it with their slave labor. "I'm about to do a new thing," says the Lord. "Do you not perceive it?" Not if we're looking backward instead of forward, we won't.
Prayer
God, you have redeemed the sins and struggles of my past. Help me let go of them in order to focus on the new things you are doing in my life. Amen.