Day 22: Letting Go of the Past

Focus Area - REACH FORWARD
Stretching Toward the Future

Scriptures: Isaiah 43:18-19 (NIV)

Reflection: Letting go is a spiritual discipline. You cannot walk into a new season while staring at an old one.

Expanded Focus:
Israel carried memories, both good and painful. They remembered Egypt and Babylon, failure and miracles. But memory becomes a prison when it prevents you from seeing God’s work in the present. God speaks through Isaiah, “Forget the former things, do not dwell on the past.” He is not erasing history. He is breaking chains for your future. Some of us are stuck, not because God is not moving, but because we keep replaying hurt, disappointment, or even the glory days.

One of my mentors, General Jim Slife, USAF (Ret), once told me, “You may not be culpable, but you are always accountable.” Coming from a leader who shaped airmen for decades, that stayed with me. I now see it from a spiritual perspective. You may not be to blame for what happened, but you are responsible for how you respond to God’s next move. Israel could not change Babylon, but they could decide whether to stay prisoners to memory or step into deliverance. Letting go does not erase pain. It releases its power over you.

Beulah, can I share something with you? Dwelling is not the same as remembering. Remembering informs you. Dwelling limits you. When you dwell on wounds, you rehearse pain instead of receiving promise. When you dwell on old victories, you focus on what God did rather than on what God is doing.

God shifts the conversation in verse 19: “See, I am doing a new thing.” Newness begins quietly, like a seed that is easy to overlook. God asks, “Do you not perceive it?” Can you see God even where nothing looks promising yet? Where you see no road, God is cutting one. Where you see no life, God is pouring water.

Letting go of the former things is not pretending yesterday did not happen. Instead, it refuses to let yesterday define tomorrow. You are not what you lost. You are not what they said. You are who God is leading you to become. God is making room for something new.

Questions to Consider:

1. What past moment, mistake, or memory is God asking you to release so you can move forward in faith?
2. Where have you been dwelling instead of perceiving what God is birthing in this season?
3. What step can you take to trust God with your future instead of rehearsing your past?