Wednesday Words of Encouragement

Isaiah 43:16-21 ~

16 This is what the LORD says—
He who made a way through the sea,
a path through the mighty waters,
17 who drew out the chariots and horses,
the army and reinforcements together,
and they lay there, never to rise again,
extinguished, snuffed out like a wick:
18 "Forget the former things;
do not dwell on the past.
19 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.
20 The wild animals honor me,
the jackals and the owls,
because I provide water in the wilderness
and streams in the wasteland,
to give drink to my people, my chosen,
21 the people I formed for myself
that they may proclaim my praise."

Do you spend a lot of your time reminiscing about the good old days? Looking at some spiritual event in your past and wishing you could recreate it? Thinking things were better before?

Isaiah is reminding the Israelites here of how the Lord led them out of Egypt. How He miraculously parted the Red Sea and led them through. How He destroyed Pharoah and his army. And he is telling them to stop looking back at their time in Egypt and wishing for the old ways. The thing that always makes me chuckle when I read these stories is that the Israelites were in slavery in Egypt, yet they seem to forget that part of their history!

Don't we do the same thing sometimes? We think a time in our past was so much better. Yet we often forget about the struggles and the bad parts of our history. We only see the good parts.

God wants you to look forward! To see what new and exciting things He has in store for you. To not miss out on the blessing of the future because you are looking behind you.

So my encouragement for you today is to keep your eyes front and center. Look at the Lord and trust Him for the new and future blessings in your life. They are there. You just have to look forward!