"LETTING GO OF THE OLD, SO YOU CAN STEP INTO THE NEW"

Isaiah 43:18-19: "Forget about what's happened; don't keep going over old history. 19 Be alert, be present. "Forget about what's happened; don't keep going over old history. 19 Be alert, be present. I'm about to do something brand-new. It's bursting out! Don't you see it? There it is! I'm making a road through the desert, rivers in the badlands.

This passage in The Message translation explains quite well what must be done in order to move from the old into the new. We declare something new coming, we sing about a new season being upon us, but are we really ready for it? The only way to step fully into a new season is to step fully out of the old season. We expect something new while still operating in the old.

Something Kristen and I have learned through this transition period from Maine to Georgia is letting go of the old in order to step into the new. There is a new season upon us, a new anointing upon us but we can't have our mind set on it being the same way it was. The only way for us to fully step into the new season, is to fully step out of the old season. Does this mean we forget everyone and everything in our prior season? Of course not, we are forever grateful for everyone that invested into our lives and forever grateful for the experiences we had. It is what has shaped us today and built character within us. So, you don't forget about the experiences of your old season, you just can't keep going over it and expecting everything in the new to look like the old.

When you remodel a home, you have to completely remove the old in order to bring in the new. There will always be bits and pieces of the old home that you can still see in the newly remodeled home, those things that give it the character that it will never lose. The framework of the home a majority of the time stays the same; the skeleton, the unseen parts of the home, yet the most important part of the home. If the framework isn't solid, the rest of the home will fail. The characteristics that make the home what it is will still be part of the even the newly remodeled home. Most of the time the only part that doesn't get touched is the foundation, the most important part of the home, the part that holds everything up and everything together. I've worked in the construction industry most of my life and have remodeled a lot of homes. I can tell you from experience, to get the best results and really make that home function properly with new equipment and new products; you really need to remove the old out of the home. The old furnace, the old A/C unit will just get in the way and not really work properly with the new system so that you get full capacity out of it. Most new systems aren't compatible with the old systems.

What's my point in all of this? If you truly want to step into the new in your life, you must be willing to completely get rid of the old. You must be willing to get rid of your old systems and ways of doing things so that the new systems can work properly. If you try to mix them together, it may work, but that new thing will not work at 100% capacity or 100% efficient. It won't work like the designer intended it to work. Sure, there will still be characteristics of your past that will show through because your past is what has made you who you are today. Your original framework is still there. Probably the most important part to all of this is having a firm foundation. If you have a solid foundation, it will hold everything else together during the remodeling process. The key in all of this is the passage that I've included. "Forget about what's happened; don't keep going over old history. Be alert, be present."

Whether good or bad, forgetting about what's happened, not going over old history, and being alert and present is crucial to you stepping into your new season and vital to the new season living and thriving. You cannot be alert and present while still dwelling on the past.

In all of this, the sole purpose is in verse 19, "I'm about to do something brand-new. It's bursting out! Don't you see it? There it is! I'm making a road through the desert, rivers in the badlands."

It may be tough, there will be times of struggling, it won't always be easy and fun, but you must now let go of the old so that you can step into the new.

Blessings, Steve