Between Maps and Meaning

“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.”
Isaiah 43:18-19

I want to talk about something that should be relatable to everyone, mistakes. In my life I’ve made plenty and I’m smart enough to know I’ll make more. Even this year I’ve fallen short on many occasions. I’m not afraid to say I’m not a good person, and I don’t say that out of humility. The only good I display is from letting God into my life, and I know I need to continue to surrender everyday. Even so, with every misstep or past reminder of the foolishness of our lives God is reminding us he is making something new.

Thank the Lord there is hope in God, hope for our future because he is making something new. He is doing a new thing in our lives. The context for this verse is interesting. Israel is in exile and they are hopeless. They are looking back at their mistakes and it hurts and grieves them. They are remembering the victory and freedom God gave them over the Egyptians, and they are so hopeless they don’t think a victory like that can come again. They don’t believe they will ever really return to their home. Maybe they even felt as if God abandon them. They are stuck in like this generational depression, but God reminds them he is doing something new even in the midst of their unfaithfulness. . Instead of dwelling on the past we need to remember we have hope because of Christ. That in the process of daily surrender we are slowly having our minds renewed, and our hearts changed. Everyday God is working to bring us home even the days we sin, even the days we’re sad, he’s making us new.

Maybe you’re thinking forgetting the past is easier said than done. Maybe you’re stuck in your own “exile,” praying to God but still making those same mistakes. I know in my walk I’ve found myself in this place. Have you thought how you could possible stop committing whatever it is that is troubling you? Maybe you can’t stop drinking, watching porn, or can’t move on from past trauma/hurt. It feels like your “exile” will never ever end. If it was up to you or me it wouldn’t. How can we change? Our ego gets in the way, our tendencies, habits, rotten nature, I mean you name it most of us never ever change. That is why he reminds us “I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.” Where it seems impossible, God makes it possible. Maybe your struggle feels like a wasteland. I know even this year I’ve felt the weight of sin at times. Felt stuck in cycles I thought I could never break out of, but that’s when it hit me. I CAN’T break out myself. My hope isn’t just in some future version of myself that I am making, it’s in God’s hands. That realization changed so much for myself. I will no longer be defeated by mistakes, I will no longer be scared of navigating life trying to will myself to be like God. I will simply rely on the spirit he gives me. He makes the way we just need to follow him down that narrow path.

I pray for my readers and for myself that we do not let past mistakes continue to define our lives. We know you are making a new creation in us, and even when it seems like we can never change we know you make the way. Amen.

Happy August friends! I’m looking to bring some new geography pieces in the Cabo Verde piece was a fun write up. Feel free to recommend a county to do next.