Forget the Former Things…

Image by Michal Jarmoluk from Pixabay

 Do not remember the former things or consider the things of old. I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth; do you not perceive it? Isaiah 43:18-19.

 

A divine coincidence this scripture was in my morning’s readings since the one-year anniversary of my husband’s passing is approaching this month. I can’t help but reflect back.

Although I’ve been through widowhood before, this time the changes were far more radical, leaving a home I loved, friends, and church. Yes, the move was necessary and healthy, being back in my home state and close to my family. Still, it’s a big change in a short period.

Have I adjusted? For the most part. Yet, memories of last year still cling.

It’s okay to remember, to hold on to memories — the good ones, but not to dwell there. It stunts the future, and this scripture is God’s way of reminding me I still have a future.

“For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope.” Jeremiah 29:11.

That is my scripture quote for the new year. I even posted the verse on my refrigerator. Perhaps I need to add Isaiah 43:18-19 as well for those dark days when I can’t shake the past.

However, the one-year milestone marks a turn in my thoughts, new memories overwriting the old ones. Not all of them, of course. Mostly, the pain of loss has lessened. The tears are fewer. I'm able to look forward more.  

Thank you, Lord, for loving me enough to send scriptural promises reminding me that as long as I have breath, there’s life, and I can’t squander a single day by dwelling too much on the past.  

Amen.