I recently bought a new computer. It is shiny, slick, powerful, and fast, but it has been sitting on the floor of my office for about a month.

My old computer is too outdated and underpowered to handle the latest operating system. It is also too weak and slow to run the powerful, new photo editing software I want to run. And yet I continue to use the old one because it is already running, and it is familiar. It has all my files on it, organized in a way that I am used to. But it also has a bunch of old stuff on it that I no longer need or use. It has obsolete versions of software that has been updated or replaced. It has documents about property I no longer own. It has messages and records from the past that are irrelevant and useless.

Our lives can become like my old computer. When we dwell too much on past events, traumas, and mistakes, we get bogged down. We can’t focus on the joys and challenges of a new day. If my old way of doing things is not working anymore, it’s time to try something different. Maybe radically different.

“Do not remember the past events; pay no attention to things of old. Look, I am about to do something new; even now it is coming. Do you not see it? Indeed, I will make a way in the wilderness, rivers in the desert.” (‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭43‬:‭18‬-‭19,‬ ‭CSB‬‬)

God doesn’t want His children to be stuck in the past, especially a past of heartaches and failures. Jesus came with open arms to offer forgiveness and a fresh start. He begs us to choose hope and joy with each new day by accepting His grace and looking toward the bright future with Him.

Try a new thing today. Step away from regret and guilt and fear. Step out of familiarity and comfort. Leap with faith into God’s hopeful future of forgiveness and powerful purpose.

Dear God, thank you so much for your forgiveness and love. Help me to leave my past failures in the past and focus on my purpose for today. And thank you for the promise of a beautiful future with you.