When God Says Look Again

Scripture

“Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old. I am about to do a new thing.”
— Isaiah 43:18–19

Reflection

There is a kind of remembering that strengthens faith. We remember God’s faithfulness. We remember the stories that formed us. We remember the people who taught us how to pray, how to serve, how to love, and how to keep going when life became hard.

But there is also a kind of remembering that can quietly become resistance.

Through Isaiah, God speaks to people whose identity had been shaped by the great saving acts of the past. They knew the story of the exodus. They knew that God had made a way through the sea. They knew that God had delivered their ancestors with power and mercy. But now God says something surprising: Do not only look backward. I am about to do a new thing.

That does not mean the past was unimportant. It means the God who was faithful in the past was not finished acting in the present.

Churches often love the stories of what God has done. We remember seasons when the sanctuary was full, programs were strong, volunteers were plentiful, and the surrounding culture seemed to understand what church was for. Those memories matter. They are part of our testimony.

But memories can become dangerous when they keep us from seeing what God is doing now.

In a changing world, the church must learn to honor the past without becoming trapped by it. We must ask whether our imagination is large enough for the new thing God may be doing among new people, in new ways, through new questions, and in places we might not have expected.

The God who made a way through the sea can also make a way through the wilderness. The path may not look familiar. The methods may not feel comfortable. But if God is leading, then the church must be willing to look again.

Application

Think about one “former thing” in church life that you cherish. Give thanks for it. Then ask God how that memory might become a foundation for faithfulness rather than a fence around your imagination.

Prayer

God of yesterday, today, and tomorrow, thank you for the ways you have been faithful in the past. Help us not to cling so tightly to what was that we miss what you are doing now. Open our eyes to the new thing you are bringing forth. Amen.

Song: “I Can See Clearly Now” — Johnny Nash