{"id":4838,"date":"2017-01-01T13:42:14","date_gmt":"2017-01-01T18:42:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.garycombs.org\/blog\/?p=3112"},"modified":"2017-01-08T20:28:08","modified_gmt":"2017-01-09T01:28:08","slug":"leaving-2016","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.garycombs.org\/blog\/2017\/01\/leaving-2016.html","title":{"rendered":"Leaving 2016"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>“For you shall not\u00a0go out in haste,\u00a0and you shall not go in flight,\u00a0<\/span>for the\u00a0Lord<\/span>\u00a0will go before you,\u00a0and the God of Israel will be your rear guard” (Isaiah 52:12 ESV).<\/span><\/p>\n

We’ve all heard the cliche, “Out with the old, and in with the new.” Yet, people are not computers with hard drives that can be erased and new software installed. We remember.\u00a0Even though the calendar may have changed to a new year, many of us remain\u00a0stuck in the past. The dearer the loss, the deeper the engrained\u00a0sorrow. The greater the pain, the more lingering its intense memory.<\/p>\n

Some were married or had a child in 2016. Some got that promotion at work or were finally able to buy their first home. The year 2016 was a milestone year of happiness and achievement for them. Strangely, they will have no problem leaving 2016 behind and embracing 2017 with hopeful expectancy.<\/p>\n

Yet,\u00a0for those who lost a loved one this past year, those whose troubled marriage ended in divorce, those who lost a job, or heard the doctor say the word, “Cancer.” For them, 2016 is\u00a0a year to run from, a year\u00a0to forget. However,\u00a0the harder they try to erase or medicate, the more they remember.\u00a0They are stuck in the muck of past memory. And it keeps them from moving forward.<\/p>\n

How can we leave the past, live in the present, and not worry about the future?<\/strong><\/p>\n

God told the prophet Isaiah how\u00a0the Israelites should leave Egypt, which was a place of pain and slavery, and trust Him with the future. We can learn from God’s instruction on how to leave our hurtful past behind and trust Him with our future. Notice His three instructions:<\/p>\n

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  1. Leave yesterday in God’s care.<\/strong> God told them, “You shall not go in flight.” He didn’t want them running away from their past. Instead, He comforted them by saying, “The God of Israel will be your rear guard.” In other words, God said, “I’ve got your back.” When you look at your past, look at it through the lens of God’s\u00a0grace and forgiveness. View it through the promise of God in Romans 8:28<\/a>.\u00a0Give God your past! \u00a0How?\n