Just Forget It
Record players have made a massive & well-deserved comeback. Nothing beats the sound of vinyl. My husband has begun to amass quite the collection of artists on vinyl, and the funny thing is that many of these artists were probably still in grade school when cassette tapes retired and CDs appeared on the scene. But vinyl records are having their moment again, and I can't complain, except for the fact that they are so very delicate.
Protect it from dust, so keep it in its sleeve.
Don't drop it or bang it, or it could shatter.
And whatever you do, hold the edges so you don't scratch it!
Nothing is worse than a scratched record. Oh...just the thought of my favorite song stuck in one spot over and over again almost breaks my heart. Can you fix it? No. The best you can hope for is to bump the needle and continue on from there.
Sometimes, our lives are like records. Sometimes we get dusty, dropped or scratched. We get stuck in the same rut, reliving the same moments over and over. Wouldn't it be nice if someone could bump our needle so we could continue on from there?
God can do that. In fact, God can do better than that.
God can take our mistakes, our less-than-stellar past, and renew us. But instead of submitting to that process, we get stuck and beat ourselves up over it. I love the prevailing theme of God's faithfulness throughout the Israelites' history in the Old Testament. Again and again, the Lord's people would wander after other gods (or their own desires) which would always lead them to mess up big time; but God would take them back, again and again.
I've noticed this pattern in my own life. God begins to open doors or set me up for something new, but my initial reaction is rarely trust. To be honest, it's doubt:
Maybe I heard wrong or misunderstood (I didn't).
No way could I possibly do something like that (with God, I can).
The doubt causes me to follow after the wrong thing (my own judgement instead of Jesus).
I realize my mistake and ask God to help me back on track (He always does).
Then, He calls me to something new and the pattern continues.
'Round and 'round I go, almost like...a broken record.
What if--instead of remaining stuck on your mistake, your tragedy, or your bad habits--you decided to trust God to help you move on? What would your life look like if you were able to overcome your past mistakes, traumas or current hang-ups? What if you were able to forget about all that has been and focus instead on what God can let you become?
God can do a lot more than just bump our needle--God can flip our whole record over and begin something new in our lives!
18 “But forget all that— it is nothing compared to what I am going to do. 19 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