“Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing; shall not it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rives in the desert.” Isaiah 43:18
Today’s Christian daily devotional
“Wow. I almost didn’t recognize you.” I can see the disappointment in his face, even as he speaks the words. My birthday gathering of old friends was supposed to be fun. It now hovered like the one balloon in my bouquet that was running low on helium; what a pathetic representation of a celebration.
“Well, it has been a decade since we’ve seen each other.” I try brushing the comment off as if it doesn’t hurt. But it sure feels like a knife plunging into my already deeply wounded self-esteem; ripping apart the stitches of healing that were just starting to form.
The pain of his flippant comment follows me like a dark cloud all day. My birthday celebration feels more like a memorial service.
As I look at photos from my old modeling days and then take a glance at my reflection in the mirror, I have to admit I am far more disappointed in my current self than my former college.
Today, the standards of beauty are set so unrealistically high, unless you have a “tab” at the local surgeon’s office and a staff of people to help glue you together, one has to succumb to the sober reality of gravity and the merciless perils of time.
Thumbing through snapshots of my yesteryears, another sad thought comes to the surface. I see a pretty young girl who was so miserable and insecure that she didn’t even enjoy her youth while she had it!
What a horrible waste of time that I will never get back. As forty swiftly approaches, it is crucial to keep reminding myself not to compare and compete with what I used to be.
The harsh reality is: I will never be 27 again. This will not change no matter what products I purchase during my late night infomercial stupor.
In Isaiah 43:18, the Bible speaks of forgetting our past and actually warns us to not even consider it. When we obey this, we allow God a fair chance to birth a new and fresh future for us. Only this time He is included in the equation. We are free from the things that formally held us back.
Isaiah 43:18 also reminds us that in impossible situations, (such as the dry desert) that the God of miracles is quite capable of refreshing us in our hopeless place.
“Dear Heavenly Father,
I need refreshing. I feel sad when people have a certain expectation of me that I feel like I am falling short of. I want to make everyone happy and in that process, I have made myself miserable.
Help me to not get discouraged. Renew my mind to look up to the God who enjoys restoration.
Because I am the piece of work being restored, I only see the pain of it. It is hard to remember that I am a work in progress and when the end comes, I will not only be better for it, but more useful and pleasing to everyone in my life.
Help encourage my heart when the world reminds me of all the things I used to be.
Help me to listen to YOU as you remind me that you are just getting started. As I grow into the person that you designed me to be, let my character be so strong that nothing man can say will ever hurt me again. In Jesus’ precious name, I chose to listen to what God says about me. Amen.”
Thank you for reading today’s Christian daily devotional on verses: Isaiah 43:18
Please check back and see what we have for you tomorrow!
Author: Julia Shalom Jordan