Remember to Forget
Embracing New Beginnings
It’s time.
I originally did this Bible study in June of 2022. I had packed up my life in Dallas, TX and moved to San Dimas, CA and I wanted to be intentional about the new beginning. It has been something I have come back to over and over again, at different moments when different seasons seemed to be coming to an end.
I typed this up as a blog post in August of 2023 but never posted it (I don’t even remember typing it up 😭).
But here it is, at just the right time.
I hate endings but I love beginnings. The reality is that there can be no beginnings without endings.
No Carryover
Growing up in Nigeria we would always enter the New Year with a church service, and each year, without fail, we would pray that there would be “no carryover”. The concept of “carryover” came from the way the Nigerian University system worked, that if you did not pass a course you would have to repeat it, so you were carrying it over to the next term. “No carryover” was stating that you did not want to repeat the past. In essence, “no carryover” was a call to leave the past in the past.
It is usually not easy to leave the past behind, because as they say “hindsight is 20/20.” And we can get caught up in looking back, trying to figure out what we could have done better or reminiscing on what could have or reliving the best moments. But it’s impossible to advance when you are always looking backward. If all you ever do is look at your review mirror, you are bound to get in an accident because you can’t see what’s in front of you. There is to be “No Carryover.”
This concept of leaving the past behind led me to Isaiah 43. Most people usually start reading this passage in verse 18 (a call to forget the past) or in verse 19 (a call to see the new things that God is doing). And as I began that new journey, I read verse 19 – Look out! God was doing a new thing. But verse 18 had me curious, what was God calling them to forget?
Let’s look at Isaiah 43:15-19.
15 I am the LORD, your Holy One, Israel’s Creator and King.
16 I am the LORD, who opened a way through the waters, making a dry path through the sea.
17 I called forth the mighty army of Egypt with all its chariots and horses. I drew them beneath the waves, and they drowned, their lives snuffed out like a smoldering candlewick.
18 “But forget all that—it is nothing compared to what I am going to do.
19 For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland. [NLT]
r e m e m b e r
Before we get to verses 18 and 19, God actually calls to their mind who He is and what He had done. We are quick to remember what went wrong, but God doesn’t call to mind the past failures instead He recalls the past victories.
Remember Who God Is
Verse 15 starts by establishing who God is:
YHWH: the self existing and self-sustaining One
Holy One: the One who is set-apart in every way
Creator: the One who formed you (see verse 1: …listen to the LORD who created you…the one who formed you says…)
King: the One with Sovereign authority over you
Without the right knowledge of God, it is impossible to perceive and faithfully believe in the things He promises for the future. Without the right knowledge of God, there is no faith.
Expand your knowledge of who God is. How has He revealed Himself in your life recently? Study out WHO GOD IS.
Remember What God Has Done
Verse 16-17 talk about the mighty miracles of the past and showcases the God who does the impossible:
Parting the red sea and destroying the Egyptian army
He made the sea act contrary to its nature.
He holds the hearts of men in His hands and determines their steps according to His purposes.
He is the God who delivers and saves COMPLETELY!
God constantly calls His people to remember what He has done, that they had seen the greatness of His power displayed so they would not be dismayed. He also called them to remember so that would not think they did it all by their own power. Remembering keeps you faithful.
What has God done for you? What miracles (big or small) have you seen in your life? Spend some time remembering, make a list of the things that come to mind.
f o r g e t
But forget all that! Verse 18 calls us to leave the past in the past:
STOP FOCUSING ON THE PAST VICTORIES! — WHY?
BECAUSE HE IS DOING SOMETHING NEW!
even greater things lie ahead.
HE WILL DO THE IMPOSSIBLE AGAIN: a way through the wilderness & rivers in the dry wasteland.
Do you not see it?
If you are focused on the past, you will miss the present miracles.
Even when we don’t see it, God is causing new and glorious things to spring forth.
Past victories are to establish who God is and His character, since He doesn’t change (Malachi 3:6). But they are not a limit on Him and what He can do (Ephesians 3:20). The moment something has happened it is no longer unimaginable so it cannot be the limit for what God can do.
The glory days are not behind.
It is very easy to be stuck in the past and began to compare what God had done to what He is doing and become disappointed and discouraged. Comparison is a hinderance to perceiving all that God will do, which is why we must forget.
The people of Israel encountered this challenge in Haggai 2:2-9.
2 “Say this to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Jeshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to the remnant of God’s people there in the land: 3 ‘Does anyone remember this house—this Temple—in its former splendor? How, in comparison, does it look to you now? It must seem like nothing at all! 4 But now the Lord says: Be strong, Zerubbabel. Be strong, Jeshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest. Be strong, all you people still left in the land. And now get to work, for I am with you, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. 5 My Spirit remains among you, just as I promised when you came out of Egypt. So do not be afraid.’ 6 “For this is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: In just a little while I will again shake the heavens and the earth, the oceans and the dry land. 7 I will shake all the nations, and the treasures of all the nations will be brought to this Temple. I will fill this place with glory, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. 8 The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. 9 The future glory of this Temple will be greater than its past glory, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. And in this place I will bring peace. I, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, have spoken!” [NLT]
Those who had been alive to see the magnificence and glory of Solomon’s temple were discouraged and dismayed by the new temple because it did not physically compare. They wept loudly but this was contrasted by the joy of those who had no memory of the first temple (Ezra 3:12). God promised an even greater glory with the new temple, He didn’t limit Himself to the past glory.
God is a God of the future: ‘Ehyeh ‘âsher ‘ehyeh: I WILL BE WHO I WILL BE (Exodus 3:14). Our past or present do not dictate who God will be!
Choose to not allow comparison to steal your joy. Stop comparing your present to your past!
“Yesterday’s a closing door, but you don’t live there anymore.” - Tell Your Heart To Beat Again by Phillips, Craig & Dean
Let’s see what Paul says in Philippians 3:12-14.
12 I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me.
13 No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead,
14 I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us. [NLT]
Past victories and achievements do not mean that you have “arrived’ spiritually. There is no “arrival” until we casting our crowns down before God on His throne when we get to heaven.
The phrase “press on” is diṓkō – properly, aggressively chase, it means pursue with all haste ("chasing" after), earnestly pursue. This is a call to keep pursuing, to charge on and to keep going! Why?
to gain ANYTHING and EVERYTHING (v. 12 VOICE)
grasping ever more firmly (v. 12 PHILLIPS)
There is only one goal that counts, only one thing to focus on. Where is your focus?
FOCUS: (n) the state or quality of having or producing clear visual definition. (v) pay particular attention to, adapt to the…light and become able to see clearly.
PERCEIVE: (v) become aware of (something) by the use of one of the senses, especially that of sight.
Where are your eyes fixed?
LOOKING FOWARD TO WHAT LIES AHEAD - This what the Bible calls us to focus on.
Hebrews 12:2
Fix your eyes on Jesus.
Jesus fixed His eyes on what lay ahead: “the joy set before him.”
He didn’t focus on the past miracles, instead He focused on the future joy.
FOCUSING ON THE PAST MIRACLES WILL NOT HELP YOU ENDURE THE PRESENT CROSS!
It is impossible to perceive the new things God is doing if your eyes are focused on the past.
Focus on Finishing the Race
Sprinting toward the only goal that counts (v. 14 VOICE)
With hands outstretched to whatever lies ahead I go straight for the goal (v. 14 PHILLIPS)
It is impossible to run the race marked out for you (Hebrews 12:1) looking backwards.
Remember all that God has done and then forget it so you can see all that God is doing and will do. Embrace the endings and welcome the new beginnings.
