When the Past Overshadows the Present

"But forget all that– it is nothing compared to what I am going to do. For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland." Isaiah 43:18-19 (NLT)

Regardless of whether we had a healthy or harrowing childhood, there is something that occurred in our early years that is still affecting our life today. It’s called the rule of primacy. It’s a concept from educational psychology that says what we learn first tends to create the strongest and most lasting impression.

Put another way, what we learn early on in life becomes our "default" understanding of something. For instance, if we grew up in a home where chaos reigned supreme, we may interpret a calm environment as boredom or danger. If we grew up being the peace keeper, we may struggle to set boundaries in adulthood. But enough about me!

Now, let’s contrast this type of childhood to one where the child was loved unconditionally and/or the only chaos they witnessed was on the daily news, not daily in their living room.

These children become adults who are less likely to have anxiety or feelings of insecurity. They are less likely to be perfectionists and less likely to struggle with emotional regulation, which is a fancy term for having the ability to manage their emotions before their emotions manage them.

To me, the biggest benefit of growing up with unconditional love and a stable home environment is the child is more likely to have healthy relationships as an adult. You mean I don’t have to earn my place in their life? Mind blown!

As you can see, this rule of primacy plays a major role in our life. Unknowingly, it affects our decisions, emotions, and quality of life. For Christians, I believe it can also spur on or stunt our spiritual growth.

Let me explain.

I grew up in a home without unconditional love and dysfunction was how we functioned. As such, my adult years have been riddled with feeling less than, lots of fear, anxiety, depression, marital arguments that would have me raging or withdrawing (he much preferred this one!), and constantly waiting for the other shoe to drop.

I’ve not been able to experience joyous occasions without also experiencing a smothering shadow of foreboding. This has never been more obvious to me than right now with the impending arrivals of my three grandchildren due this fall.

I am beside myself with fear that tragedy will strike and take the life of one of my daughters or their unborn child, or some horrific diagnosis is coming. This worry is paralyzing and stealing the joy I should be feeling over the imminent arrival of these precious little souls. God is wrapping joy in a receiving blanket and I am overlooking it!

As always, I am not the only one to experience paralyzing fear, unable to break free from the thought patterns my past has imprinted on my heart and in my mind. The Israelites also faced these same feelings.

Isaiah 43:18-19 says, “But forget all that– it is nothing compared to what I am going to do. For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.”

Isaiah prophesied these words to Judah (the southern kingdom) as a message of future comfort for those who would one day be exiled to Babylon approximately 100 years later. His words of comfort also apply to us today – thousands of years later.

How?

Watch this…

Isaiah is telling the people of Judah to forget the past. Forget about the Egyptian exodus that happened 25-30 generations ago when God parted the Red Sea. He’s proclaiming God is going to do a new thing and He has already begun doing it.

This “new thing” seems to imply it will also be a better thing. But what could possibly be greater than parting a sea, in all its enormity, to free the enslaved then turn the waters of deliverance into the grave of their oppressors?

This:

The parting of the Red Sea only provided an escape. Making a pathway through the wilderness and creating rivers in dry wasteland provides transformation of their long, barren path back home and creates waters to sustain them in their journey.

God wasn’t just going to deliver the Israelites once again. He was going to renew their hope and sustain them through what would seem impossible!

We know Isaiah’s words were a foreshadowing of the ultimate “new thing” God was going to do through Christ Jesus.

Friend, because of the Israelites default thinking – those things they came to believe and expect because of their numerous oppressions by other countries and subsequent slavery – they had a hard time believing things would or could be any different than what they had already experienced. But God was telling them (and us) to forget the past. He’s going to do a new thing and has already begun that new thing.

So, if you are like me and struggle to loosen the shackles of the past because of this unrelenting default thinking, stop looking back. You’re not going that way. You don’t live there anymore.

No matter where we are on our journey home, Scripture tells us God is present and He provides. It also assures us the new thing He's doing is better.

Yes, sometimes the new thing He is doing looks like the loss of a friendship or a life-threatening diagnosis. Sometimes it looks like a new grandchild with tiny, familiar features. But it always looks like renewal and restoration through Jesus Christ our King. And it is always for our ultimate good.

When we are overwhelmed by the repetitive, negative voices in our head whispering the same dark, hopeless thoughts, we must remember Isaiah’s words to the Israelites were a foreshadowing of our future in Jesus Christ. Our default thinking is a shadow of the past.

Let’s shine some Sonlight on it.