Beautiful Scars
A few years ago, I went to a high school track meet to watch my son throw the shot put. If you have ever been to a track meet, you know that it is an all day event. And there were a good many races before the shot put started. So I found my place on the bleachers, and settled in to watch the races. The first event was the mile run. The competitors lined up and as soon as the gun fired, they were off.
Out of the five runners, two of them left the others in the dust. And these two runners were neck and neck for most of the race. On the last lap, one of the runners pulled slightly ahead of the other. As they approached the finish line, the lead runner turned his head to look back at the man behind him. When he looked back, it caused him to slow his pace just enough for the runner behind him to take the lead and win the race. If he had not taken his eyes off of the finish line to look back, he would have won.
Satan’s greatest distraction for causing believers to stumble and take their eyes off of Christ is to tempt them to look back to their past instead of prize of Christ that lies ahead. Maybe it’s a past sin that causes regret. Or perhaps it is a sin that was committed against them that causes the person to reply the hurt over and over again in their minds.
Dwelling upon and constantly looking back to the past can derail the future. And dwelling on the past is a byproduct of an unforgiving heart. For the person that dwells upon their past sins and says, “I just cannot forgive myself” you are declaring yourself to be more righteous than God. For the one who repents of their sin and trusts in Christ, the Lord says that he casts our sins as far as the east is from the west (Proverbs 103:12). The same way God has forgive us, we are to forgive ourselves.
And for the person who dwells on a hurtful and tragic sin committed against them, the real issue is forgiveness. I have heard it said by people who cannot let go of someone hurting them, “I have forgiven them, but I will never forget what they did to me.” God says something much different. He says that He will remember our sins no more (Hebrews 8:12). This does not mean that God no longer has any recollection of our transgressions. Rather, it mean that He will no longer dwell upon them. He will no longer bring our sins to His mind. To harbor any form of unforgiveness is to consider ourselves to be more Holy than God.
Isaiah 43:18-19 “Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.”
In Isaiah 43, God is telling Israel to forget a future tragedy that has not yet happened to them. In a nutshell, Israel was very wayward in their relationship with God. So God is about to allow the Babylonians to enslave the people of Israel for approximately 70 years. And after 70 years, the Lord tells Israel that He will restore them and bless them greatly. And before this takes place, God tells them not to dwell on this tragedy that will befall the nation in the future, but rather trust in the blessings that will come out of that hardship.
Remember Not the Former Things
This is the first portion of Isaiah 43:18. We are to forget the former things. But how can we forget painful events in our life? When the Lord commands this, He does not mean to erase the past from our minds. That is impossible. Rather it means to no longer give your past weight in your life. Whatever happened, it is now over and done. And the weight of that sin has been placed upon Christ, rendering it completely powerless. It is choosing to no longer hold the past again yourself or someone else. It is making the choice to no longer let the past control the direction of your future.
Nor Consider the Things of Old
This is God’s command not to dwell on the past. Don’t keep rehearsing or replying it in your mind. If it is something you have done, repent and ask for God to forgive you. And if it is some sin that was committed against you that you cannot let go of, consider Christ on the cross. And the fact that it was your sins that He bore so that you would be spared from the wrath of God. ‘I can never forgive’ is a phrase that no true Christian can utter. It is to say you deserve God’s forgiveness for your many sins, but others do not. We are commanded to forgive others as Christ has forgiven us. And if we do not forgive others, Christ says that we will not be forgiven (Matthew 6:14-15). Do not consider the things of old. Look forward to Christ, not backwards to what has been done. And for the Christian, do not look backward to what has been forgiven.
Behold, I am Doing a New Thing
When we hold on to the past and keep looking back, we are in danger of missing the new thing that He is doing in our lives. We are to look for the good that God is doing in our lives. Notice in the verse, God asks the question, “Do you not perceive it?” If you are still dwelling on what has past, you will likely not perceiving what He is doing in your present and future.
Remember the wife of Lot. As Lot and his family were fleeing from the city of Sodom and Gomorrah which was being consumed by God’s firey wrath, his wife turns around to look back. The original language actually uses words that indicate that she may have been going back to the burning city, not just looking at it. And she was turned into a pillar of salt. She could not perceive the future blessings that God had in store for her. And she ran back to her past.
Satan desires to remind us of our past so that we miss the blessings of God. The great German reformer Martin Luther often felt the temptation to look back at his sinful past. He felt that Satan tortured him with memories of his past transgressions, reminding him that he deserved separation from God for his sins. And Luther wrote this;
“So when the devil throws your sins in your face and declares that you deserve death and hell, tell him this: “I admit that I deserve death and hell, what of it? For I know One who suffered and made satisfaction on my behalf. His name is Jesus Christ, Son of God, and where He is there I shall be also!”
The Apostle Paul was a great sinner before his conversion to Christ. He was not only an enemy of Christ, he also was a persecutor and murderer of Christians. No doubt Paul had much guilt over his past sins, and there were most likely other believers who had loved ones that he had put to death. But Paul did not spend his life looking backwards. Nor did the disciples and leaders of the first century church hold Paul’s sins against him. In Philippians, the Apostle Paul wrote;
“Brothers and sisters, 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, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:13-14.
In Greek mythology, Narcissus was said to be a very handsome man. As the myth goes, he walked by a pool of water and caught saw his reflection in the water. He spent the rest of his life staring at his reflection, missing out on life, because he could not lift his gaze from his looking at himself.
I believe there are people who are no different than Narcissus. They are deeply cut or injured by some tragedy in their life. Immediately, they look down at their wound and lament at the pain. But over time, the wound heals and eventually becomes just a scar. The immediate pain is gone, and the wound is no more. But many still spend their time staring at the scar, and dwelling upon the pain once was. Like Narcissus, they spend their lives gazing at themselves, all the while completely missing out on the blessings that God has given all around them.
Imagine a man who committed a terrible crime. He is sentenced to years in prison, and after he has served his time, the jail door are opened and unlocked. He is free to leave. However, the man cannot move. Instead of running towards freedom, he sits in his cell with his head in his hands, replaying the events that led to his incarceration. This is unforgiveness. No matter if it is neglecting to forgiving yourself, or refusing to forgive others, unforgiveness is a self imposed prison. The door to the cell is open. But the one who refuses to forgive chooses to sit in the cell, and look at the past instead of walk out of the prison.
God can turn your pain into His purpose. He can transform and use your past by His providence. Paul greatly regretted His past as an enemy of Christ. But God used it for good. Once saved, Paul ’s past gave him a greater understanding of the religious leaders who opposed Christ. Because he once was them. Nicky Cruz was a violent gang member in the 1950’s. As an adult he heard the Gospel and was radically saved. Cruz went on to create a ministry to the gangs that he once ran with and wrote his testimony in a book called ‘Run Baby Run.’ God desires to use our painful pasts for His glorious future plans. Remember Joseph who was abandoned by his brother and sold into slavery. Eventually God restored Joseph’s reputation and made him second in rank next to Pharaoh. When Joseph finally confronted his brother who had betrayed him, he did not tell them that he would never forgive them. Joseph forgave his brothers, saying to them, “What you meant for evil, God meant for good (Genesis 50:20). God does not want to constantly remind you of the pain of your sinful past. He wants to redeem it to be used for His present and future glory.
For the Christian, the emotional scars that you bear should be a reminder, not of the pain that once was, but of His amazing grace in your life. Our past should be a reminder of how we are forgiven in Christ, and how in like manner, we are to forgive those who once sought to do us harm. God is creating rivers where there was once a desert, and sunshine where there were once storms. The question is, can you not perceive it? Don’t listen to the Satanic lies of the devil who desires to sow seeds of pain and unforgiveness in your heart. Satan whispers, “God cannot use you due to the sins of your past.” But it’s a lie. Just ask Paul, David, Joseph, or practically any of the other men and women in scripture. God always has a purpose for allowing pain in our lives. And God can always redeem our past sins for His purposes. And His purposes always resound to His glory.
Look to Christ, who we all have sinned against. Yet those in Christ will never have their pasts held against them by the Lord. The agony that Jesus endured at Calvery etched scars on his hands and feet from the nails that pierced his skin. But the scars of Christ are not a merely a reminder of His pain, but of the great glory that came out of it. Without the pain of the cross, there would not be a resurrection. And without a resurrection, there would be no redemption for mankind. Jesus overlooks our transgressions, He forgives our sins, and He calls us to look ahead to the future that He has for us. Don’t look back to the past without seeing how the Lord has turned what was once an emotional wound into a beautiful, God glorifying scar.
Out of the five runners, two of them left the others in the dust. And these two runners were neck and neck for most of the race. On the last lap, one of the runners pulled slightly ahead of the other. As they approached the finish line, the lead runner turned his head to look back at the man behind him. When he looked back, it caused him to slow his pace just enough for the runner behind him to take the lead and win the race. If he had not taken his eyes off of the finish line to look back, he would have won.
Satan’s greatest distraction for causing believers to stumble and take their eyes off of Christ is to tempt them to look back to their past instead of prize of Christ that lies ahead. Maybe it’s a past sin that causes regret. Or perhaps it is a sin that was committed against them that causes the person to reply the hurt over and over again in their minds.
Dwelling upon and constantly looking back to the past can derail the future. And dwelling on the past is a byproduct of an unforgiving heart. For the person that dwells upon their past sins and says, “I just cannot forgive myself” you are declaring yourself to be more righteous than God. For the one who repents of their sin and trusts in Christ, the Lord says that he casts our sins as far as the east is from the west (Proverbs 103:12). The same way God has forgive us, we are to forgive ourselves.
And for the person who dwells on a hurtful and tragic sin committed against them, the real issue is forgiveness. I have heard it said by people who cannot let go of someone hurting them, “I have forgiven them, but I will never forget what they did to me.” God says something much different. He says that He will remember our sins no more (Hebrews 8:12). This does not mean that God no longer has any recollection of our transgressions. Rather, it mean that He will no longer dwell upon them. He will no longer bring our sins to His mind. To harbor any form of unforgiveness is to consider ourselves to be more Holy than God.
Isaiah 43:18-19 “Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.”
In Isaiah 43, God is telling Israel to forget a future tragedy that has not yet happened to them. In a nutshell, Israel was very wayward in their relationship with God. So God is about to allow the Babylonians to enslave the people of Israel for approximately 70 years. And after 70 years, the Lord tells Israel that He will restore them and bless them greatly. And before this takes place, God tells them not to dwell on this tragedy that will befall the nation in the future, but rather trust in the blessings that will come out of that hardship.
Remember Not the Former Things
This is the first portion of Isaiah 43:18. We are to forget the former things. But how can we forget painful events in our life? When the Lord commands this, He does not mean to erase the past from our minds. That is impossible. Rather it means to no longer give your past weight in your life. Whatever happened, it is now over and done. And the weight of that sin has been placed upon Christ, rendering it completely powerless. It is choosing to no longer hold the past again yourself or someone else. It is making the choice to no longer let the past control the direction of your future.
Nor Consider the Things of Old
This is God’s command not to dwell on the past. Don’t keep rehearsing or replying it in your mind. If it is something you have done, repent and ask for God to forgive you. And if it is some sin that was committed against you that you cannot let go of, consider Christ on the cross. And the fact that it was your sins that He bore so that you would be spared from the wrath of God. ‘I can never forgive’ is a phrase that no true Christian can utter. It is to say you deserve God’s forgiveness for your many sins, but others do not. We are commanded to forgive others as Christ has forgiven us. And if we do not forgive others, Christ says that we will not be forgiven (Matthew 6:14-15). Do not consider the things of old. Look forward to Christ, not backwards to what has been done. And for the Christian, do not look backward to what has been forgiven.
Behold, I am Doing a New Thing
When we hold on to the past and keep looking back, we are in danger of missing the new thing that He is doing in our lives. We are to look for the good that God is doing in our lives. Notice in the verse, God asks the question, “Do you not perceive it?” If you are still dwelling on what has past, you will likely not perceiving what He is doing in your present and future.
Remember the wife of Lot. As Lot and his family were fleeing from the city of Sodom and Gomorrah which was being consumed by God’s firey wrath, his wife turns around to look back. The original language actually uses words that indicate that she may have been going back to the burning city, not just looking at it. And she was turned into a pillar of salt. She could not perceive the future blessings that God had in store for her. And she ran back to her past.
Satan desires to remind us of our past so that we miss the blessings of God. The great German reformer Martin Luther often felt the temptation to look back at his sinful past. He felt that Satan tortured him with memories of his past transgressions, reminding him that he deserved separation from God for his sins. And Luther wrote this;
“So when the devil throws your sins in your face and declares that you deserve death and hell, tell him this: “I admit that I deserve death and hell, what of it? For I know One who suffered and made satisfaction on my behalf. His name is Jesus Christ, Son of God, and where He is there I shall be also!”
The Apostle Paul was a great sinner before his conversion to Christ. He was not only an enemy of Christ, he also was a persecutor and murderer of Christians. No doubt Paul had much guilt over his past sins, and there were most likely other believers who had loved ones that he had put to death. But Paul did not spend his life looking backwards. Nor did the disciples and leaders of the first century church hold Paul’s sins against him. In Philippians, the Apostle Paul wrote;
“Brothers and sisters, 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, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:13-14.
In Greek mythology, Narcissus was said to be a very handsome man. As the myth goes, he walked by a pool of water and caught saw his reflection in the water. He spent the rest of his life staring at his reflection, missing out on life, because he could not lift his gaze from his looking at himself.
I believe there are people who are no different than Narcissus. They are deeply cut or injured by some tragedy in their life. Immediately, they look down at their wound and lament at the pain. But over time, the wound heals and eventually becomes just a scar. The immediate pain is gone, and the wound is no more. But many still spend their time staring at the scar, and dwelling upon the pain once was. Like Narcissus, they spend their lives gazing at themselves, all the while completely missing out on the blessings that God has given all around them.
Imagine a man who committed a terrible crime. He is sentenced to years in prison, and after he has served his time, the jail door are opened and unlocked. He is free to leave. However, the man cannot move. Instead of running towards freedom, he sits in his cell with his head in his hands, replaying the events that led to his incarceration. This is unforgiveness. No matter if it is neglecting to forgiving yourself, or refusing to forgive others, unforgiveness is a self imposed prison. The door to the cell is open. But the one who refuses to forgive chooses to sit in the cell, and look at the past instead of walk out of the prison.
God can turn your pain into His purpose. He can transform and use your past by His providence. Paul greatly regretted His past as an enemy of Christ. But God used it for good. Once saved, Paul ’s past gave him a greater understanding of the religious leaders who opposed Christ. Because he once was them. Nicky Cruz was a violent gang member in the 1950’s. As an adult he heard the Gospel and was radically saved. Cruz went on to create a ministry to the gangs that he once ran with and wrote his testimony in a book called ‘Run Baby Run.’ God desires to use our painful pasts for His glorious future plans. Remember Joseph who was abandoned by his brother and sold into slavery. Eventually God restored Joseph’s reputation and made him second in rank next to Pharaoh. When Joseph finally confronted his brother who had betrayed him, he did not tell them that he would never forgive them. Joseph forgave his brothers, saying to them, “What you meant for evil, God meant for good (Genesis 50:20). God does not want to constantly remind you of the pain of your sinful past. He wants to redeem it to be used for His present and future glory.
For the Christian, the emotional scars that you bear should be a reminder, not of the pain that once was, but of His amazing grace in your life. Our past should be a reminder of how we are forgiven in Christ, and how in like manner, we are to forgive those who once sought to do us harm. God is creating rivers where there was once a desert, and sunshine where there were once storms. The question is, can you not perceive it? Don’t listen to the Satanic lies of the devil who desires to sow seeds of pain and unforgiveness in your heart. Satan whispers, “God cannot use you due to the sins of your past.” But it’s a lie. Just ask Paul, David, Joseph, or practically any of the other men and women in scripture. God always has a purpose for allowing pain in our lives. And God can always redeem our past sins for His purposes. And His purposes always resound to His glory.
Look to Christ, who we all have sinned against. Yet those in Christ will never have their pasts held against them by the Lord. The agony that Jesus endured at Calvery etched scars on his hands and feet from the nails that pierced his skin. But the scars of Christ are not a merely a reminder of His pain, but of the great glory that came out of it. Without the pain of the cross, there would not be a resurrection. And without a resurrection, there would be no redemption for mankind. Jesus overlooks our transgressions, He forgives our sins, and He calls us to look ahead to the future that He has for us. Don’t look back to the past without seeing how the Lord has turned what was once an emotional wound into a beautiful, God glorifying scar.
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