‘But the LORD says, “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. ‘ Isaiah 43:18-19 GNB
Just yesterday I watched an episode of Hoarders, a reality show about professionals who come in to help people who struggle with hoarding and giving them a fresh start. According to the Mayo Clinic, hoarding is defined as a disorder that causes persistent difficulty discarding or parting with possessions because of a perceived need to save them. What struck me the most was that from the outside their homes looked normal, nothing really out of the ordinary but once got inside, their homes were so full, it was hard to move around let alone get in. Hoarders find themselves emotionally attached to insignificant things, making it hard for them to dispose of. In this particular episode, one hoarder had 76 cats recovered from her home of which 35 were dead, some even skeletonized. The remaining 41 which were alive had a respiratory condition and would eventually die.
How relatable is this with our own lives? What baggage, relationships, behaviors have we found ourselves justifying out of fear to put in the work to let go? One main thing that stops us from moving forward is the lie that we cannot live without our past or worse, our present or future cannot get any better. Therefore we find ourselves clinging onto relationships that do not feed us any longer, we harbor feeling that cause us more harm than good. Like the woman on the episode, we hold onto some dead things, that have no hope of being resurrected, without even knowing it. We are jealous of a friend who got married before we did 5 years ago, or we are bitter about a betrayal from a loved one, or maybe it’s an idea of a life or career we thought we would have.
What are you holding on today, that you should have let go a long time ago? Letting go or disposing of doesn’t mean giving up. It simply means allowing God to bring you where He wants you to be in this season. In the text, God is encouraging us to forget and move away from the ideals, ideas, relationships, feelings, sin, or other things past we seem to be holding onto dearly. Maybe you feel overwhelmed by the thought of moving on. God is assuring you today that He will do something spectacular in place of all that you are giving up. And He certainly won’t leave you dry, He promises that He will furnish you in the new place. Trust God to make a way where it seems impossible and supports you through that new journey.
