“Forget about what’s happened; don’t keep going over old history. Be alert, be present. I’m about to do something brand-new. It’s bursting out! Don’t you see it? There it is! I’m making a road through the desert, rivers in the badlands.”
Isaiah 43:18-19 (MSG)
Forgetting the past and not going over (and over…and over) old history sounds fantastic. Letting it all go and moving ahead with no trappings holding me back seems ideal. But, navigating life – single mom life – in a fallen, broken world makes listening to Isaiah’s instruction challenging. At first glance, this passage is one my divorce-co-parenting-weathered soul wants to disregard as an unrealistic call for living in a difficult world.
But, patiently and graciously, the Holy Spirit prompted impatient me to keep reading (and listening to) Isaiah. “Be alert, be present.” Alert…not naive. Alert…not foolish. Alert…aware of your surroundings and those with whom you are dealing. There seems to be a call for balance here between not letting yourself spend your days looking backwards and being aware, informed, and attune to reality. There is a balance between being shackled by the past and learning from it in order to move forward.
And that moving forward part? Man, I’m glad I kept reading. God’s got that covered. “I’m about to do something brand-new. It’s bursting out! Don’t you see it? There it is!” With our eyes fixed ahead and on the Lord, He promises to do something new that He’s pretty excited about. I love this translation because it is like I can hear the voice of God basically saying, “Jennifer, you’ve got to let it go. Don’t be an idiot and be aware of what is going on, but stop fretting over the past. Because I’ve got this! See what I’m already doing? Open your eyes to see how amazing this already is!”
In my mind, God’s voice is lovingly validating, reassuring, and so excited for me and what He’s created ahead.
As if that’s not enough, Isaiah calls it like it is. He acknowledges that the present situation stinks. What God is making for us isn’t a mirage. It isn’t an instantaneous rescue out of a less than ideal situation. I love that reality is called for what it is! And, what is promised is a “road through the desert, a river in the badlands.” God promises a way through the dry, harsh seasons. He promises provision when we are wandering in spaces that are bare and lonely.
With the words of Isaiah as my guide, my prayer today is to balance this level of awareness of reality with a forward-looking trust that God is doing great things (the He’s excited about!) even if it looks like we are still wandering in the desert.
My favorite band these days is Needtobreathe. Love their music – new and old – and they sum up a modern version of Isaiah pretty well in what I think is one of their best.
Thank you for sharing this. Regardless of our situation, I think we have all been through seasons where we not only felt like wanderers in an extremely unfamiliar place, but I know I have had these moments where it was so hard to see that there is and always was a way out.
Of course, it is typically not the direction we think the road needs to go and the road through the valley always seems so much longer than the road through our highs in life. I know I have had those “aha” moments when I feel like God is widening the road and putting up a big sign pointing me in the right direction. Did God move or change? Absolutely not, I just finally took off my blinders and realized He is and was there all along and has just been waiting on me and preparing me.
Sorry for my incoherent ramblings this morning, but I really enjoyed your words and the song you shared. Thanks for letting me read…
Thanks for the feedback, Thomas! I love your comment about “I just finally took the blinders off and realized He is and was there all along..” So thankful that we can rest assured that He is always with us and is paving roads we don’t even know we’ll need to go down long before we even arrive there.