What a blessed day it was for me yesterday when I closed my pastoral service at FDC. I was privileged to hear so many kind words, so much appreciation. I woke up this morning pondering the question - ‘what’s next?’ I started to do what I have done for many years, planning and scheduling, except that I am now officially retired and this week is mostly a blank sheet of paper with a couple of volunteer activities penciled in. It’s a strange sensation after living a busy life for so long!
As I prayed, the Spirit directed my thoughts to this
passage. It was written in the context of promise to the people of God.
They were in a crisis, an awful time for the nation. They reached back to
remember the miracles of the past, seeming to conclude that all the best things
were only found in their history.
But God says to them, “You are precious
and honored in my sight … I love you … 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 desert and streams in the wasteland."
(Isaiah 43:18-19, NIV) The directive to ‘forget’ did not mean that they
were to erase the past, but rather to be willing to leave behind to gain the
new future He was preparing for them.
What a word for me. 45 years of serving people in the local church with pastoral care and teaching has provided so many great memories that dance through my mind. There are highlights plenty recalled with joy and a some regrets too that bring tears. But … God is doing a new thing!
Are you a captive of the past?
Are you living like that guy who still wears his high school jacket
and dreams of his glory days on the football field, a study in arrested
development?
Each day brings new opportunities, God preparing us to
accomplish His will for each season of life.
Do you want to live with hope, be a positive influence for the Kingdom, and know the joy of faithfulness? There are real choices to be made.
1. Celebrate the victories and then put the trophies on the shelf.
The Scripture has plenty of examples of memorializing God’s
work. Remembering what He has done strengthens the foundations for our
faith. Central to our Christian worship is the practice of Holy Communion in
which we ‘proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.’ We do
need to remember! However, we cannot try to relive those victories. They were
for the moment.
2. Confess your sins and failures and then leave them in God’s grace.
If you have lived for more than a week, you have some
moments that are regrettable. That’s life in this world where we deal with sin
and the sinful nature. But in Christ’s grace there is forgiveness and
release from guilt. Yes, it is good to make things right where we can.
An
apology for wrongs is powerful for both parties! Restitution is a
principle woven into God’s ideas about justice. And when we have owned our
wrong (confessed), when we have done what is possible to make it right, then we
can learn from the lesson and grow in grace. For "there is no
condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus." (Romans 8:1, NLT)
3. Pray for courage to step up to today with faith.
We face forward! If we refuse to grow, we begin to die. This is true emotionally, relationally, and spiritually. God wants us to remember that we are ‘becomers.’ Until we step into eternity or are transformed at the Second Coming Christ with His Kingdom, we are people who live in time and who must, if we would please Him, take up the challenges of the day. Will you?
The word from the Word is Paul’s familiar word to the
Philippians. After he remembered the good things of his past, he turns to
God’s future. His aspiration is noble: “ I want to know Christ and the
power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings,”
however he knows he is a work in progress. “Not that I have already
obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take
hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not
consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting
what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward
the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ
Jesus." (Philippians 3:12-14, NIV)
Celebrate what He has done right.
Confess the things you have done wrong.
Courageously choose to live today.
_________________
10,000 Reasons (Bless The Lord)
Bless the Lord O my soul O my soul
Worship His holy name
Sing like never before O my soul
I'll worship Your holy name
The sun comes up it's a new day dawning
It's time to sing Your song again
Whatever may pass and whatever lies before me
Let me be singing when the evening comes
Your name is great and Your heart is kind
For all Your goodness I will keep on singing
Ten thousand reasons for my heart to find
And on that day when my strength is failing
The end draws near and my time has come
Still my soul will sing Your praise unending
Ten thousand years and then forevermore
Worship Your holy name
Lord I'll worship Your holy name
Sing like never before O my soul
I'll worship Your holy name
Worship Your holy name
Worship Your holy name
Jonas Myrin | Matt Redman
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