Day 2

January 10

Trevor Honeycutt

Isaiah 43:18-19 

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? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland. 

Isn’t it so easy to get caught living in the past? Maybe it’s something you said or didn’t say. Or, maybe, it was something you did or didn’t do. Maybe you find yourself always looking back at how good things used to be or always reminiscing on the “good ole days.” Or maybe you’re going through a struggle so difficult that all you see is darkness ahead. What is it in your past that you can’t seem to let go of? 

Whether you are living in your past or running from it, God wants us to forget it all and seek Him. He tells us through the prophet Isaiah to “not dwell on the past.” See, God has a plan for each and every one of us, and that plan was set in motion long before we were born. We didn’t do anything to earn it and we certainly can’t do anything to stop it. Do we think that we know more than God? That our plans are better for us than His? 

“See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?” 

When Jesus took our sins on that cross over 2000 years ago, died the death that we deserved, and gave everyone that believes in Him the ultimate gift of eternal life… that was the beginning of the new plan that God had set in motion. That is what God is calling us to look toward when He tells us not to dwell on the past. He doesn’t want us to live in our sin and shame that separates us from Him, but rather that we embrace the fact that we are sinners that have been made new by Christ Jesus. We are no longer slaves to our sin but have the freedom and power to choose Jesus. 

“I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.” 

God makes a way where it seems impossible. He is the only water that can truly quench our thirst. When we are lost and afraid, when we’re thirsty for something more than this world has to offer… we know that because of Jesus, because of the new plan that God has set in motion, and the new creations that we are through Christ… we don’t have to live in our pasts anymore. We can learn to live in the future that God has in store for us. He has given us a new life, and a new opportunity to live for Him. Think about how living for God looks in your life. 

Prayer: Heavenly Father God, thank you for this new day, this new breath that we breathe. We know that you have authority over everything and that you provide for us each and every day. We thank you for your new plan that was started with your son, Jesus, cleansing us of our sins and taking our place on that cross. We thank you that He rose three days later and with that has given us the chance at a life everlasting. We thank you that we get to seek you every day and we ask that you continue to give us that hunger to do so. We thank you for what you are doing in this church, the newness that is coming with the Act2Thrive. We know that all of this is possible because of you and we ask that we can use it to please you and to serve those around us. Lord, you are such an awesome God and we find ourselves in awe of you every day. We lift up this church and this community to you, that we may serve you and draw nearer to you, every day.

Amen.