Different
For some this is the second time you have joined us on this twenty-one day venture. For others, this is the first time. You do not have to have been with us last year to relate to today's post.
I suspect that many of us thought this year would be very similar to last year. We may have even committed to fasting and praying again because last year was a spiritual highpoint. We felt excitement about revisiting last year's mountaintop experience. As we think about this year, a word comes to mind--different. It's not the same. Some have expressed that they do not feel the intense connection they did the first time. Others wonder if the object of their fast was a big enough stretch.
It is said that comparison is the thief of joy. In this case, it is just a thief. It has the potential to rob us of the uniqueness of now. It is a spiritual trap, a real danger to the soul, to look to the past for what we desire today. The past is just that...past. Attempting to relive what was or capture a past moment keeps us from experiencing the freshness of now.
Isaiah has a word for us today:
Isaiah 46:18-19a
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?
God wants to do a new thing in you, yet we delay the new thing by clinging to the past.
Around SouthField we refer to our walk with God quite often as a journey. My youngest son has provided us some family adventures. College in Texas and first job in Colorado Springs has led to many miles of driving across Illinois, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, Iowa, Nebraska and Colorado. I've never driven a hundred miles and wished I could go back and do that same stretch all over again. I want to keep moving! I want to get to the destination. Nostalgia for the past keeps us from the destination God has in mind.
In Philippians 3 Paul writes, "Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."
God has a new thing for you. He has many more new things for you. Stop trying to relive yesterday. Yesterday's gone.
Different is a new thing, a good thing.
Today's Prayer
Ask God to help you to embrace today! Ask Him to help you to appreciate the journey, and to delight in each unique step along the way. Thank Him for some of the fresh experiences He has given you over the past eighteen days.
Final Thought
Recounting past spiritual mountaintops is not a bad thing. In fact, it is a really good thing. God commands us to remember. The problem is not recounting or remembering, it is falling for the temptation of reliving what was rather than reaching for what is to come and resting in today.
A Song
There is irony in today's song choice. I have resisted the urge to post songs I know. My iPod does not need much space. I play the same few songs over and over year after year. I've been intentional about keeping these songs fresh. I cannot resist this one. It hits us right where we live:
Can't go back to the beginning
Can't control what tomorrow will bring
But I know here in the middle
Is the place where You promise to be
Though it is not new, it is a fresh version. Let God use it to bring life to your dry bones!