Weekender’s Devotions

Isaiah 43:18b-19

Do not cling to events of the past or dwell on what happened long ago. Watch for the new thing I am going to do. It is happening already—you can see it now! I will make a road through the wilderness and give you streams of water there.

How easy is it to hold onto a grudge or to cling to that one negative comment someone said to you? How easy is it to hide behind that one big insecurity you have or even that one awful thing you did yourself?

Mistakes are going to happen in this fallen world, but where we get ourselves into trouble is when we hide behind our own shame and misunderstandings. When we stay in our own heads and start letting our shame and insecurities do the talking… that’s when the spiral starts.

This verse reminds us to let go of our past.. our past failures and pain… our past mistakes and heartbreaks… our past coping mechanisms and habits.

Letting go doesn’t mean pretending it did happen. Letting go means you are releasing it all of it (and I mean ALL) into God’s hands. Because YOU DON’T HAVE TO CARRY IT ALL BY YOURSELF!

There’s a song that says “God takes what the enemy meant for evil and he turns it to good.” And I have heard it a thousand times. But I never really thought about the words until I was a situation that proved it to be true.

We are blessed to serve a God of not only second chances, but of 393479857 chances. You are never too far gone. It’s okay to admit you aren’t okay. It’s okay to ask for help. It’s okay to accept that you let yourself get to a bad place or fell back into bad habits.

And the real beauty of it all is… God will meet you in the middle of your mess and re-write your story if you let him. God never promised us a life without pain or struggles, but it’s in those times that he will use them to show us that he is still in control. If we only stand still for a moment and ask… he will give us peace. He will meet us exactly where we are… in the middle of our chaos… and make us a new path.

xx

Katie

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