“We do not cling to the past but look ahead for God’s renewed goodness in our lives.”
Thoughts from daily Bible reading for today – November 4, 2025
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 43:19
We have all seen or read the caricature of the sad has-been, fervently reminding anyone who will listen of his past glory days. If we’re honest, we can all be a bit like that pitiable character. In moments of weariness, isn’t it easy to look back on some “golden day” of the past? Maybe it’s first love, when all the world seemed vibrant and new, or back when the children were little, and life abounded with happy busyness. Maybe your golden days were a season when the Lord seemed so tangibly close, and prayer flowed easily out of a full heart. “If only I could get back to that time,” our hearts yearn.
Our human tendency is to look backward, to try to conjure up past glories and high emotions. But in facing the past, we can forget to watch with anticipation for what God is doing now, and for the future blessings He is preparing for us. In a private letter, C.S. Lewis wrote about this tragic tendency, lamenting that “these golden moments in the past, which are so tormenting if we erect them into a norm, are entirely nourishing, wholesome, and enchanting if we are content to accept them for what they are, for memories. Properly bedded down in a past which we do not miserably try to conjure back, they will send up exquisite growths. Leave the bulbs alone, and the new flowers will come up. Grub them up and hope, by fondling and sniffing, to get last year’s blooms, and you will get nothing. ‘Unless a seed die…’” (Lewis, Letters to Malcolm Chiefly on Prayer).
Recalling the past is a beautiful act of worship and encouragement when we reflect on what God has done and how he has worked all things together for our good. But for the Christian, the primary posture ought to be eyes ahead and watchful. “Surely your goodness will follow me all the days of my life,” said the Psalmist. The Christian should expect that God is working always for our good and believe that He whose thoughts are higher than our thoughts will work in unexpected ways. In short, as Christians, we should be prepared to be surprised. Let the past be the past – a monument of God’s goodness and faithfulness. But don’t stop and be content to stare nostalgically at the monument. Walk on! The promised land is still ahead.
Prayer
Lord, thank you for all the good you have done in my life. Help me to stay expectant for your goodness to manifest in new ways in my life, and make my heart receptive to the future blessings you have in store for me.
Application
Are you clinging to a memory? Ask the Lord to help you bury that seed of the past and open your heart to his now and future blessings.
Related Reading
Isaiah 55:8-9; Jeremiah 29:11; Habakkuk 1:5; Hebrews 12:1-3
Worship Resource
Rebecca St James: You Make Everything Beautiful
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