Do not call to mind the former things

"Do not call to mind the former things, or ponder things of the past."
Isaiah 43. 18

I was thinking about this verse- it really challenged me. I prayed, how can I forget my past, how can I not call it to mind.  One of my biggest challenges is not dwelling on past events.

It came to me that phrasing 'call to mind' from the scripture of is something that seems to have some choice involved... we do the 'calling' to our own minds at times for different reasons, even if there isn't a direct trigger.

I wonder why I do that sometimes, there must be something soothing about looking back... There has to be or I wouldn't be going there... What am I trying to achieve?  Am I trying to solve the 'mystery' of my past actions, trying to work out how I could possibly be so 'broken' as to do this or that- yes. Do I need to work it out? I have been convicted of the sin. God is guiding me in the present, incorporating the past already.

Am I trying to punish myself?  Yes, sometimes. But Christs sacrifice is sufficient. I need desperately to be reminded of that, and I have been recently. Self- punishment undermines, and devalues Christs sacrifice.

Is the scripture referring only to past events that are negative, or positive events too?  Paul seemed to be of the mind to forget everything. Though he did recall his conversion and the story of this as an exception.  In the scriptures elsewhere it says to remember what God has done.  We are encouraged to remember God's goodness, and our life story in a redemptive sense.

In a recent post I explore some insight from the passage including and following the scripture above, Isaiah 43. 18-21(see post 'A River in the Wilderness'). Some of the 'how' to stop recalling the past in an 'unhelpful way' I believe lies in a key, that when God does a 'new thing' it is a better thing that replaces an old thing.  What he can do for our future is much more than what we may have lost in our past...Believing this can increase our anticipation for the 'new thing' God is doing and so loosen our grip on the past...

Lets be deliberate in keeping our minds on the new things God is doing and about to do!

"Yet this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope.  Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail.  They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness."
Lam 3 v 22-23