Isaiah 43:16-21
Author: Holly Reimer
Reflection: v. 18, ‘Don’t remember prior things.’
When I think about this text, it reminds me of our ‘new,’ old space. For over a year and a half our community met on the lawn of our partner church, St. John’s Lutheran. Shortly after the first of the year, we moved back to our established basement space at Druid Hills Presbyterian Church. It can be easy to think about all of the ways we used to do things, and the experiences we had in that space prior to COVID. It can (and has been) easy to get stuck in the past, feeling trapped by what used to be. And yet God is doing a new thing. Coming back to an old space in a new way has allowed us to create hospitality by warming up inside, using flushing toilets, washing up in a sink with running water, while also being mindful of the need to keep one another safe from the COVID virus. But if we had been stuck on the old ways we had always used the space before, we would not have been able to reimagine ways to create hospitality while keeping one another safe. If we get too stuck in the past, we cannot see God working in the present. God, who is beyond our full comprehension, will make new paths in the wilderness and create a way in the desert—in ways we never dreamed possible. As we think about things in our lives, and the ways of the past, let us not put God in such a box that we lose sight of what God can do now.
Prayer Lord, let us not get stuck in the past. Amen.