Yesterday I promised to share one of my go to verses this year. I remember I was in a Rosen Centre hotel room in Orlando at a business meeting reading my devotion for the day and I came across this verse as I was searching for a new memory verse for the month. I thought it was for one of my memorization partners at the time, but as it turns out, it was for me too. OK, it was probably mainly for me.
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. Isa. 43:18-19
Forget the former things? The past? Yesterday? We really like holding on to the past, especially the good things…but the life of the past is static – not reversible. I don’t advocate not dealing with the past’s wounds or not celebrating the past’s successes, but we must move ahead. Live and give in the present. Listen for the ‘new thing’ – the ‘now thing’ – for who you can help or mentor, for the call you can make, for the steps you can take. Nineteen year old, Katie Davis of Amazima Ministries, said (paraphrased) ‘Courage is not about knowing the path but taking the first step…getting out of the boat.’
When I said I’d be talking about this verse today I had no idea that the theme of the Catalyst Conference 2011 is ‘Be Present’. I’m glad I dropped in as an online guest.
It is challenging to have the courage to Be Present. As Joel Houston said today at Catalyst, ‘When you feel out of your comfort zone or uneasy, it’s a perfect time for God to do what only HE can do.‘
I want to get out of the boat each day. What about you?