DO NOT DWELL ON THE PAST
Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland. Isaiah 43:18-19 NIV
In January, Sandy and I went to a Philadelphia Orchestra concert at the Kimmel Center. The program included A German Requiem by Johannes Brahms, a favorite composition which we have both sung. The third movement of the piece begins with a solo by a baritone soloist.
The soloist at the performance was a GRAMMY Award winning opera singer in the twenty-sixth year of his career. The soloist made his entrance at the right time but on the wrong note. All eyes of the orchestra, chorus, and audience focused on director Yannick Nezet-Seguin. The conductor calmly signaled a stop in singing and playing. He then started the movement from the beginning; the second time the soloist’s entrance was correct and the musicians successfully completed that segment and the remainder of the Requiem.
God, as quoted in the scripture above, was admonishing the Israelites who were captive in Babylon to forget the past, as He was going to do a new thing. God operates in our lives like the conductor of a musical performance. When something goes awry, we need only turn to the Lord. Musicians look to the conductor when musical mistakes are heard. When we make a mistake, God can quickly stop the damage and give us the opportunity for a fresh start, just as it happened in the Kimmel Center concert.
The days of Lent can be a good time for us to look at what we have been doing - our former things. It could be a wrong action which hurt another person, a relationship that has deteriorated, a bad habit, or a failure to act faithfully when the opportunity came to do good. We need only to look to Our Father, the conductor of our lives, for help in releasing those things dwelling in our past and then moving on to new, and better, things. Living in the past can hinder our future.
Gracious God, we ask your aid in discernment of those aspects of our past behavior that call for release. May we follow Your lead in making all things new, as we contemplate the meaning of Christ’s death for our sins and His resurrection. Amen.
Carol Rice
|