The Grace of Forgetting
As we prepare to begin a new year one of the possible obstacles in receiving the new things God has prepared for our lives are our own unhealed memories. For most aspects of our lives, our ability to remember is a vital skill so necessary for success. But there are times when the things we remember and how we interpret them can paralyze us and hinder our growth and progress. Today I would like to look at the scriptures and how they instruct us about what I would like to call the 'grace of forgetting'.
It doesn't take long for us to accumulate experiences, relationships and failures that we would like to forget. But often those mental images we would like to erase stick to our souls and cause us to despair and lose hope for our lives. We need something beyond ourselves to move forward from our places of hurt and disappointment. We need the grace of forgetting.
A Transformed Mind
I am not saying we need a spiritual 'lobotomy' or the complete removal of our memories. What I am talking about involves something deeper and more profound than a physical reality. When grace is at work in our minds it involves both transformation and translation of our memories into a kingdom perspective where God can rule over our pain and brokenness. "Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will know what God wants you to do, and you will know how good and pleasing and perfect his will really is." (Romans 12:2)
The Old Testament prophet Isaiah spoke to the nation of Israel about not losing hope for the future. They were living in a foreign land and had lost the ability to hope for the promises God had given them. God had to lay out the hope of the future for them again and it began with a command to forget! In Isaiah 43:18, "Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. The wild beasts will honor me, the jackals and ostriches, for I give water in the wilderness, rivers in the desert, to give drink to my chosen people, the people whom I formed for myself that they might declare my praise."
Letting go of Painful memories
We often don't want to yield and surrender our painful memories to God. Soul pain is rooted deep and nourished by our repetitive remembering of what others have done to us.... what we have done to ourselves. We build altars over our injuries and participate in the false worship of our pain. God through the prophet Isaiah clearly calls us to forget the former things.... the old things of our past. We are being called to welcome and discern the new thing that God is actively wanting to bring into our lives. The question needs to be asked, 'do we perceive it'? The ability to discern what God might want to do in our lives is hindered by the inability to open our minds beyond what 'has been' to 'what will be'. There is a difference between tolerating evil and harm to ourselves and wallowing in the memory of what has been done to us. The grace of forgetting does not enable or discount the evil that has been done to you or through you. When we receive the grace of forgetting we are looking beyond ourselves into the throne room of heaven and saying to God, "I need your grace to go on!" I need you to breathe into me the hope and truth of your promises for my future life. I can't go on without hope! Soul pain runs very deep into our minds and emotions. Only God can make a way in the 'wilderness' and 'desert' of our souls. When he pours out a 'fresh word' of hope into our minds and hearts it's like a river bursting forth in the driest desert. My prayer for all of us as we enter 2012 is that we will enter the new year with an openness to the new thing God wants to do in all our lives. I want all of us to be empowered with the supernatural grace of forgetting.
Leaning into the Future with Grace
In the New Testament, the Apostle Paul who had once been a religious terrorist and prideful bigot knew the grace of forgetting. While in the natural he had so much to 'brag about' in his own religious and cultural heritage and past he made a willful and wise decision to firmly leave his past behind. In Philippians chapter 3: 13 we read, "But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." The grace of forgetting is meant to take us deeper than we have ever gone in a relationship with the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. There is so much 'impossibility' wrapped around the unforgiveness deeply embedded in our souls. Often the hardest person to forgive is ourselves.... and those closest to us... who have the ability to get close enough to hurt us so deeply.
A New Year and a New Opportunity
Every new year, opportunity, relationship and life direction demands both a 'letting go' of the past and an openness to the new. God wants to soften you on the inside. He wants your soul to be tender enough that he can take his finger and write upon your heart a new chapter... a chapter of hope, restoration and healing. The things that have been stolen need to be replaced.... the things that have been lost need to be found. Are you willing to receive the grace of forgetting? There is a very real and costly choice involved. You will have to be open and trusting to an unknown future. You will have to believe again. You will have to nurture and develop your relationship with the God of grace and love. You will have to let go of cynicism and a critical spirit. But it's worth it to have that fresh water of life flowing over your soul. As the new year dawns, its time to open your life to that cleansing stream of life that flows from the river of God's love. Welcome 2012 with hope and expectancy! God has good things in store for us all. Let the dreams inside of you out into the open. Dreamers believe and believers dream!
Jim
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