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
FORGET. The Hebrew word for remember is zakar. It means to remember or keep in remembrance or cause to be remembered, to recall, to call to mind, to be thought of, to remind, to mention, to record, to make a memorial, to be mindful of, to recount.
To forget is to NOT zakar; in other words to NOT remember, to NOT recall, to NOT call to mind, to NOT be mindful of, or to NOT recount something; AND to proactively facilitate the forgetting by NOT mentioning, NOT recording, and NOT memorializing those things we are commanded to forget.
In other words, we have to proactively remember to forget certain things. God knew and knows that it is not humanly natural to forget many of the things He calls us to forget. That's why He makes it a commandment to FORGET the FORMER things.
FORMER. The Hebrew word for former is ri'shown. It means foremost, old time, ancestral, first and primary location. The Word is telling us that the things that are foremost in our minds and memories are likely to be tied to or associated with "the good 'ole days", events and stories of our ancestry or "good 'ole family times"; and the homes, venues, or prominent places associated with those "good 'ole family days". (They could just as easily be "bad 'ole family days and places" that need to be forgotten.)
One day during my own journaling I was struggling with this commandment; to forget the former things. The Lord taught me that the things aren't former until they are former; those former things want to be your present reality.
I asked The Lord, "How do they become former?" My general sense was that The Lord was telling me that it's a God-designed process to make the former things former; a process that takes engagement with the Holy Spirit and/or Christ-centered counselors to aid that process.
That notion of a Spirit-inspired process was particularly helpful to me with PTSD-bound memories of abuse and trauma. Memory processing is especially challenging for victims of PTSD. Trauma-based memories are processed in a unique way that helps the victim survive the trauma. However, once the danger has subsided, trauma-based memories often become stuck, yet are activated as real when a PTSD victim is triggered. The survival, trauma-based memory mechanism often becomes a block to freedom until the Holy Spirit intervenes to help the victim forget the former things.
The Word's command to forget the former things calls to mind the passage in Luke where Jesus is teaching this same lesson to the disciples with two life stories. In Luke 9:60-61 The Lord offers a man the most privileged invitation there is. Jesus calls out to the man, "Follow Me." The man responds to the calling, "Lord, let me first go and bury my father." Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the kingdom of God.”
A different man in earshot of the other's man's invitation responded, and said, “Lord, I will follow You, but let me first go and bid them farewell who are at my house.” But Jesus said to him, “No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.” (Luke 9:62-63)
Burying a father or saying goodbyes to loved ones at home, seem like reasonable and good things to do; perhaps even Biblical. However, from the King's perspective, our response to His direct, personal invitation to follow Him, and the timing of that call, no matter the circumstances, reveals our heart toward Him.
In both cases in the Luke passage, concerns for earthly family, family relationships, and family matters were obstacles to obedience, commission, and the intimate walk with Christ that God desires for us. In these cases, concern for earthly family may have even cost these two their salvation. (None of this is to say that we are to abandon our Biblical family responsibilities, only that we need to have those responsibilities in Kingdom perspective.)
Jesus gave these two a strong rebuke for not forgetting the former things; and does the same with us today. "Forget the former things, because no one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God."
Why is The Lord's rebuke so strong and stark? One reason is found in the second part of the passage in Isaiah (Is 43:19). "SEE, I am doing a new thing." His love for us is very great, very compassionate, and very personal. He knows that our remembrance of "former things" may occupy our consciousness to the point that we are unaware of the new thing He is doing in our lives; the way He has made for us in our wilderness, and the streams He has made for us in our wastelands.
Do you have family-based former things in proper perspective with God's call on your life? Are family-based former things hindering your walk with Him in any way? Are family-based former things occupying so much of your memory and consciousness that you are not aware of the new thing He is doing in and for your life: the way He has made for you in your wilderness; and the streams He has made for your wastelands?
Forget the former things!
Prayer
Abba Father. Please forgive me when I have held on to the former things You instruct me to forget. Please help me to forget those things. Please open my eyes and open space in my consciousness to see and be aware of the new thing You are doing in my life, the way you have made for me in my wilderness, and the streams You have made for me in my wastelands. Let it be in the precious Name of Jesus Christ.
Recommended Resources
The Gift in You. Caroline Leaf
Total Forgiveness. R.T. Kendall
