by Pastor Douglas Brauner

Hope for the Future in the Face of Our Past

You can listen to today’s devotion by clicking on this SoundCloud link.

“Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are continually before me.”
Isaiah 49:16 English Standard Version

We exist between our past and future.

Israel had a horrible past. They had abandoned God’s love and mercy, and had adulterated themselves with idols, some even sacrificing their children to these mute idols. The Israelites would feel the abandonment of God in exile. “But Zion said, ‘The Lord has forsaken me; my Lord has forgotten me.'” (Isaiah 49:14 ESV) Why wouldn’t they feel this way when they reflected on their past sins, and the great unknown of their future?

More than likely, we still break out in a cold sweat over past sins and wonder how we could have missed the mark with God. Like Israel in exile, our past can haunt us to the point that we wonder if there is any hope for the great unknown of our future.

Yet, the Lord, Yahweh their God, promised that the walls of Zion, of Jerusalem, were always before him. God did not forget his people, they were always before him even in exile, even when their past seemed irredeemable.

No matter what the footprints of your past look like, how irredeemable they appear, God is in the business of restoring your life. Your “walls” are always before him, and he will not forget you. In other words, though your future might look uncertain, God remembers YOU!

The footprints of the past are still there, we remember them, but they no longer have the power to derail God’s grace and mercy in Christ. By grace, we point our faces to God’s future for us, his promise of life here and now that leads us to life in his presence.

Yes, God has redeemed you, every part of you, and your name is engraved in his hands. Despite your past, you have a future!”

Copyright Family of Christ Lutheran Church, Colorado Springs, Colorado