What If You're Not Going Back — You're Going Forward?
Have you ever been so focused on what you lost that you almost missed what God was building?
Maybe it was a job that ended. A relationship that fell apart. A season that closed and you didn't get a say in it. And now you're standing in the aftermath, looking back, trying to figure out how to get back to where you were.
But what if God isn't taking you back? What if He's taking you forward? What if the ending you're grieving is actually the beginning you've been praying for — and you just can't see it yet?
Isaiah 43 has something to say about that. And once you hear it, you'll never look at a closed door the same way again.
Isaiah 43:18–19
"See, I Am Doing a New Thing"
"Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. 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 43:18–19
Read that again slowly. Forget the former things. That's a command, not a suggestion. God is not saying your past didn't matter. He's saying it's not where you're going. Stop setting up camp in a season that's already over.
And then He says something that should stop you in your tracks — See, I am doing a new thing. Not I might do a new thing. Not I'm thinking about it. I am doing it. Present tense. Already in motion. The question isn't whether God is moving. The question is — do you not perceive it?
That phrase stops me every time. It's like God is saying — I've already started. But you're so busy looking in the rearview mirror that you're missing what's right in front of you.
Why we stay stuck
We'd Rather Hold Onto Pain Than Step Into the Unknown
Letting go of the past is one of the hardest things a human being can do. And it's not always because the past was good. Sometimes we hold onto pain just as tightly as we hold onto comfort — because at least it's familiar. At least we know what to expect.
The Israelites did this. God literally parted the Red Sea, drowned their enemies, and set them free — and what did they do? They complained. At least in Egypt we had food. At least in Egypt we knew what tomorrow looked like. They wanted to go back to bondage because freedom felt uncertain.
A lot of us are living the same story. We'd rather stay in a situation that's killing us slowly than step into something new that scares us. We'd rather hold onto the pain we know than trust God with the unknown.
But God says — forget the former things. Not because they didn't happen. But because they don't define what's next.
A way through, not around
God Isn't Removing the Wilderness — He's Building a Road Through It
Look at the second part of verse 19. I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.
God doesn't say He's taking you around the wilderness. He says He's making a way through it. A road that only He can build. A road that didn't exist before you needed it.
And streams in the wasteland? That's provision in the place where provision shouldn't exist. That's God showing up exactly where logic says He can't. You're looking at your situation and saying there's nothing here. And God is saying — watch Me bring water out of dry ground.
He doesn't just make a way. He makes a way where there is no way. He doesn't just provide. He provides in impossible places.
What it means for you
The New Thing Is Already Springing Up
Notice the language — now it springs up. Think about how a spring works. Water doesn't announce itself. It doesn't send you a notification. It just breaks through the ground. One day there's dry dirt. The next day there's water bubbling up from underneath.
That's how God's new thing works. It doesn't always come with fireworks and a press release. Sometimes it starts as a quiet idea. A conversation you didn't expect. A door that cracks open when you thought they were all shut. An opportunity that makes no sense on paper but won't leave your spirit.
The new thing might already be springing up in your life right now — but you're so focused on what died that you can't see what's growing.
God is asking you today — do you not perceive it? Open your eyes. What's different? What's shifting? What's stirring inside you that wasn't there six months ago? Don't dismiss it because it's small. Everything God builds starts small.
Three things the new thing requires from you:
Letting go before you can see what's next. You can't receive what God has for you if you're still holding onto what He's already closed. Release the old before God reveals the new. Thank God for it, grieve it if you need to, and then open your hands for what's coming.
Trusting the seed stage. Every new thing starts underground — invisible, quiet. Just because you can't see roots doesn't mean they're not growing. The seed stage is where faith is built and character is forged. Don't despise the small beginnings. Who dares despise the day of small things? — Zechariah 4:10.
Courage to walk a road without footprints. God said He's making a way in the wilderness — which means no one has walked this road before you. There's no map. No blueprint. Just God saying — follow Me. That takes courage. Not the absence of fear. Just the decision to trust God more than you trust your fear.
A personal word
I've Stood Exactly Where You're Standing
I spent years building something I was proud of. My career. My identity was wrapped up in what I had built. And when I started sensing God pulling me in a new direction — ministry, content creation, a completely different path — my first reaction wasn't excitement. It was fear.
Because the old thing was safe. The old thing was proven. And this new thing had nothing but a whisper from God and a feeling in my gut that wouldn't go away.
I remember wrestling with it. God, why would you ask me to walk away from something that's working? And I felt Him say — because I have something better. But you'll never see it if you keep staring at what's behind you.
So I let go. Not because I had it all figured out. But because I trusted the One who did. And I'm standing in the new thing right now. It's still growing. It's still springing up. But I can see it. And I wouldn't trade it for anything I left behind.
Two questions to sit with this week
First — what former thing are you still holding onto? What season, what loss, what version of your life are you still camped out in, even though God has already closed that chapter?
Second — what new thing might God be doing that you haven't perceived yet? What's stirring? What small seed is breaking through the ground that you've been too distracted to notice?
Write those answers down. Pray over them. And then make the decision today to stop looking back and start looking forward. Because God is doing a new thing. And He's inviting you to be part of it.
Ready to go deeper? Listen to the Full Episode.
The podcast goes places this article can't — including a prayer for everyone standing at the edge of something new, afraid to let go of what's behind them.
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