I scarcely remember the woman I was at the beginning of the previous year.  Physically, not much has changed, yet a different reflection emerges from the mirror.

Days approaching the new year pleads for a sort of self-examination.  There is something enthralling about conclusions that render the mind searching for answers to questions I didn’t realize I had.  For example, what has changed?  What was I doing last year at this time?  What were the things I dwelled upon?  What did life feel like during preceding times?  Then, almost without noticing, my mind slips back into the present: What do I feel now?  What am I pondering now?  What am I learning?  What have I done more recently?  Who am I today that will ultimately become who I was in a matter of moments?

A puzzling feeling grips my neck and gives me a headache as I try to discern the past so that I may understand the present and brigade toward the new year.  So much unknown abides in 2017.  The past is the known and experienced, but 2017 brings escapades I cannot begin to have a knowledge or understanding of.  My headache subsides as I recall Proverb 20:24; “A man’s steps are from the LORD; how then can man understand his way?”  There is a gentle and overcoming reassurance in knowing that in the unknown, we have a known God.

Being able to recall memories from the past year is a precious thing; how glorious is it to be able to reflect upon what God has shown us throughout our lives.  Last December I began studying Isaiah, and, thankfully, the Lord included a tidbit here about reminiscing on the past.

“Do not call to mind the former things,

Or ponder things of the past.

Behold, I will do something new,

Now it will spring forth;

Will you not be aware of it?

I will even make a roadway in the wilderness,

Rivers in the desert.”

Isaiah 43:18-19

I love verb tense of verse 19.  The author does not state, “are you not aware of it,” but uses the future tense, “Will.”  This encompasses a promise that requires faith. He tells us, then promises we will be made aware.  Our job is to trust and put our hope in Him, our Deliverer, as He makes away through wilderness and the desert.  Revelation 21:5 parallels these verses, reading “And He who was seated on the throne said, ‘Behold, I am making all things new.’ Also He said, ‘Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.’”  Living in the realization that God is faithful and true forces us to understand that the only option is to trust God with our futures.

The past is straightforwardly that—past.  The woman I was last year did not struggle with what I do today, nor do I currently struggle with what I did back then.  Circumstances have changed, thoughts, feelings, and actions have all changed since a mere year ago, and the same will be said by the end of 2017.

I am not the same woman from years prior, but am being made new through sanctification in Christ.  The woman I was 365 days ago had a relative idea of what 2016 would be like, but would not begin to comprehend the depth of the year.  Today I sit, in blissful ignorance, of the future that looms in 2017, confident in the God who will carry me through the year.

For Further Reading:

Proverbs 3

Psalm 140:12

Psalm 34:4

Matthew 6

Lamentations 3

Deuteronomy 32:4

II Timothy 2:13