Get your head out of the cloud!

When the future feels uncertain trust God and don’t be tempted to cling to the past, writes Jem Chesman

Jem Chesman

Recently, my phone unexpectedly gave up. Usually that’s OK because everything is saved on your cloud. Not in my case! I had a sinking feeling, fearing I had lost all my photos of my boys. I was so relieved when I powered up my new handset and thousands of images were still there. As I started scrolling through old photos, I simultaneously put on the rose-tinted glasses.

We are currently entering the pre-teen season which is full of interesting challenges. While navigating this new season, I looked back at photos of the baby and toddler years and began to feel that those times were easy. However, my husband quickly reminded me that in those earlier days we often felt overwhelmed. Because of the challenges we face today, I temporarily forgot those of the past.

It’s easy to view the past through rose-tinted glasses. That’s what the Israelites were in danger of doing. Exiled in Babylon, God was about to lead them out, but it wasn’t going to be easy. It would require an arduous journey through the complete unknown. Babylon offered at least some level of security. The wilderness offered none.

It’s into this situation that God speaks. In Isaiah 43:18-19 he reminds the people of the amazing acts of deliverance that he has performed before instructing them to: “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing!”

It can be tempting to retreat into our past when the future feels uncertain. Sometimes we can cling to high moments of the past – the good memories, past achievements, even previous moves of God, because we fear that we may not experience such things again. Sometimes we can also get stuck in the past because the pain of it seems to hold us captive.

I don’t know what your past holds. Maybe people have hurt you? Chances are they have. Maybe you have regrets? I know I do.

When I looked back at the photos of my boys, I felt regret over times when I got it wrong. We can easily become captive to past failures but that’s not God’s intention.

The past is finished – we can’t reclaim it or undo it. However, we can let go of it and embrace the change that God wants to bring about.

So often we have strong ideas about what we think God should do and when he should do it. However, when our expectations are not realised, we need to embrace his ways anyway.

Wherever you find yourself today, know that God is a God of newness and holds new things ahead of us! The Israelites were on the cusp of a new season and God was calling them to embrace the change. And he is calling us to do the same.

Let’s engage in the new thing that God is doing and move forward. God is calling us to press onwards. He is calling us to advance.

For as long as she can remember, Jem Chesman has been passionate about building local church and has served on leadership teams in the Channel Islands and London. She is married to Pete, and mum to three energetic boys!

This article first appeared in Direction Magazine. For further details, please click here.

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