When God Says “New."
“Do not remember the past events; pay no attention to things of old.” - Isaiah 43:18 (CSB)
When God tells His people not to remember the past, it can sound like He is asking them to forget. But that is not what He means. Scripture never invites us into denial. God is not asking Israel to erase their history or pretend it never happened. He is addressing how they are remembering it.
Israel is in exile. Their past is heavy with failure, loss, and consequence. And yet, God speaks into that moment with purpose. He is not minimizing their pain. He is correcting their expectations.
They remembered the Exodus as proof of God’s power, but they had also turned it into a limitation. They trusted God’s character, but only if He worked the same way again. Their memory had shifted from testimony to template.
This is where we often stumble too.
We remember God’s faithfulness, but we quietly demand that He repeat it in familiar forms. We expect new seasons to look like old victories. And when God works differently, we assume something has gone wrong.
But God’s “new” is not novelty. It is redemption continuing forward.
He does not declare something new because the old failed. He declares something new because His covenant faithfulness is unfolding. God redeems what has been broken rather than discarding it. He transforms how the past defines us instead of pretending it never existed.
This means God is not embarrassed by your history. He is not surprised by your detours. He is not improvising because things went off course. He is redeeming, shaping, and advancing His purposes through places you thought disqualified you.
A new beginning in God’s economy does not start with reinvention. It starts with trust. Trust that God is faithful enough to work through what already exists. Trust that He is still writing your story. Trust that redemption is not over just because the chapter was painful.
Reflection Question
Where have you been defining “new” by escape or reinvention instead of trusting God to redeem what already exists?
God’s “new” work is not erasing the past, but redeeming it.
Prayer
Father, I confess how easily I define new beginnings by escape instead of redemption. Teach me to trust You with my story, not just my future. Help me believe that You are faithful enough to work through what already exists, and wise enough to redeem what I cannot fix. Amen.
When God tells His people not to remember the past, it can sound like He is asking them to forget. But that is not what He means. Scripture never invites us into denial. God is not asking Israel to erase their history or pretend it never happened. He is addressing how they are remembering it.
Israel is in exile. Their past is heavy with failure, loss, and consequence. And yet, God speaks into that moment with purpose. He is not minimizing their pain. He is correcting their expectations.
They remembered the Exodus as proof of God’s power, but they had also turned it into a limitation. They trusted God’s character, but only if He worked the same way again. Their memory had shifted from testimony to template.
This is where we often stumble too.
We remember God’s faithfulness, but we quietly demand that He repeat it in familiar forms. We expect new seasons to look like old victories. And when God works differently, we assume something has gone wrong.
But God’s “new” is not novelty. It is redemption continuing forward.
He does not declare something new because the old failed. He declares something new because His covenant faithfulness is unfolding. God redeems what has been broken rather than discarding it. He transforms how the past defines us instead of pretending it never existed.
This means God is not embarrassed by your history. He is not surprised by your detours. He is not improvising because things went off course. He is redeeming, shaping, and advancing His purposes through places you thought disqualified you.
A new beginning in God’s economy does not start with reinvention. It starts with trust. Trust that God is faithful enough to work through what already exists. Trust that He is still writing your story. Trust that redemption is not over just because the chapter was painful.
Reflection Question
Where have you been defining “new” by escape or reinvention instead of trusting God to redeem what already exists?
God’s “new” work is not erasing the past, but redeeming it.
Prayer
Father, I confess how easily I define new beginnings by escape instead of redemption. Teach me to trust You with my story, not just my future. Help me believe that You are faithful enough to work through what already exists, and wise enough to redeem what I cannot fix. Amen.
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