“For I will create new heavens and a new earth; the past events will not be remembered or come to mind.” (Isaiah 65:17 CSB)
Devotional
Some memories have a better sense of timing than we do. They show up at red lights, in the shower, at 3am, the moment things finally get quiet. A loss we thought we had made peace with. Words we heard years ago that still sting.
God is the one speaking here, through the prophet Isaiah, and he’s talking to people who carried a lot of past. Their hard years were real, and he doesn’t pretend otherwise. In the verse just before this one, he calls them “the former troubles.” What he promises is a new creation so complete that those troubles won’t come to mind anymore.
I don’t fully know what that will be like, and I won’t pretend to. Isaiah doesn’t give us a blueprint. What he gives us is the heart of a God who cares about what keeps us up at night. He never tells these people to get over it. He tells them what he is going to do.
That helps on the days when healing feels slow. Some things may ache for as long as we live on this earth, and that doesn’t mean we’ve failed or our faith is too small. It means the new creation hasn’t come yet. It’s coming, though, and the one who promised it has never once forgotten what we’ve been through.
Reflection
There are a few memories I keep replaying, even though I know nothing new will come of it. I’ve wondered whether I should be further along by now. This verse doesn’t shame me for that. It tells me the last word on my past belongs to God.
Prayer
Father, you know the memories that still hurt. We bring them to you again today, even the ones we thought we’d finished with. Hold us in the slow places, and help us live with our eyes on the new thing you’ve promised.