Sometimes life knocks the wind out of you and takes you by surprise. You’re faced with a challenge you weren’t expecting to deal with. Maybe you stepped out on faith but the plan fell apart. Maybe it’s an illness or the loss of a loved one. Maybe you’re just overwhelmed with trying to keep up with life’s pace and feel like you should not feel this exhausted by “ordinary” circumstances.
No matter where you find yourself today, the word charges us in Isaiah 43 not to fear; to not be anxious. The Lord God calls us His very own. He promises to be with us in all of life’s challenges. Though the situation may feel overwhelming, when we rest in His lordship, He will not allow us to be overwhelmed. Like the three Hebrew boys (Daniel 3), we can face the fire and not be burned.
But there is some work for us to do if we desire to shelter ourselves in Him. Verse 18 of that same chapter says that we must forget the former things; the pains and chains we hold on to from past hurts. The word isn’t saying that we should not remember what we’ve lost, but rather calls us not to dwell in constant repetition of the loss(es). The enemy’s plan is the keep us bound in that repetitious pattern, but when we turn our focus from the past, we clear our vision to see the new thing God wants to do in and through us. This deliverance is often provision and peace in the midst of dire circumstances.
So if you find yourself counting your losses, stressors and woes, peace can be yours if you choose to turn your gaze. When we decide not to dwell on the former things, we can embrace the hope of the Lord’s provision for today.
Isaiah 43:1,2,18,19
“But now, thus says the LORD, who created you, O Jacob, And He who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; You are Mine.
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they will not overwhelm you. When you walk through fire, you will not be scorched, Nor will the flame burn you.
Do not remember the former things, Nor consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing, Now it shall spring forth; Shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness And rivers in the desert.”