FORGET

“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

      One of the things that really struck me in this verse is when it said "FORGET THE former things; do NOT dwell on the past" --Easier said than done, right? Of course! It's easier to forgive rather than to forget, others may say otherwise, but stay with me on this, what is the main reason why we cannot seem to forgive? The answer is because we can't forget. We can never forget why certain people did such things, why certain things and instances happened to us, it's hard to forget those people who wronged and offended us. It is, and this is the reason why we cannot forgive, why for some reason, even if these people already said their sorry, already paid their dues, are already living a new and peaceful life that is so far from how he/she was before; we still cannot find it in ourselves to forgive them, why? because we cant' forget. No, scratch that, we choose not to forget. That is why we have these burdens, these anger, these grudges within us that holds us prisoners to unforgiveness, this happens; to the best and worst of us. 

     But the thing is, God's word tells us to forget  the former things. Believe me, when I first read this, I was like "Whaaaat? forget? it isn't that easy. This happened, and that happened, he did this and she did that..." blah...blah...blah... Yes. It did happen. This person offended you. That person spoke ill of you. They hurt you. She judged you. He did spread false things about you. It did happen. But, hello. Have you noticed something? They're all in PAST tense. It happened. It was done. It's in the PAST. Do you live in the past? of course not! We live in the present. I am not saying that we should just easily forget the past, because well, the past is indeed part of us, but it is not the whole of us. "Do NOT dwell on the past" --this can easily be said that we should stop living in the past and live in the now, in the present, in what's currently happened. Hey, I am not saying that this is an easy thing to do, it's not and believe me, I know how hard it is, I actually spoke to God about this-and I bluntly told Him that it is not that easy and that it was close to impossible,but you know what HE said to me? He just lovingly answered, 

"I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more." -Isaiah 43:25

   That was such a boom and pow moment for me. I felt both insignificant and so significant at the same time. It's true, Our Father, chose to FORGET our SINS. He who is blameless, and who is being hurt and forgotten by us everyday chose to forgive and forget about our sins. He sees us as the person we are NOW not who we are a year ago, a month ago, a week, a day, an hour or even a few minutes ago. That is not how HE sees us, He sees us for who we are now, kneeling and worshiping HIM now. In the present. Living and dwelling in HIS present. This is how HE sees us, this is how HE sees us. He sees HIS children now. He who is blameless and sinless, He who tells us our unpleasant actions, He who is hurt deeply by our unpleasant actions, He who has the right and the true license to judge us remembers our sins no more. Isn't that just humbling? I mean, out of everyone else in all the worlds combined, He should choose to remember everything, every single moment that we hurt, disappointed, betrayed, cursed, slapped, punched, poked, and snapped -He has the right to remember all of those things and hold it against us, but He didn't. He remembers our sins no more. He chose to forget every single wrongdoing that we did. He chooses to place all those things as part of our past. I cannot even begin to describe how it feels to be so cleansed and to be looked with so much joy and love. I could feel my soul leaping with so much joy because of this. Friends, it isn't impossible to forgive and forget, nothing is ever impossible with God after all, it is impossible if we would rely on our own strength, but if we will rely and lean on our Heavenly Father for strength, wisdom, will and power--Nothing is Impossible with God :D He wants us to be reflections of His glory, and forgiveness is definitely part of His majestic glory. 

The Challenge: 

Learn to Forget. Time to Forgive. Step into Freedom.

Here's to NEW BEGINNINGS! STAY BLESSED FRIENDS!