[photo: BostonBill]

I don’t know about you but I find it way too easy to get hung up on past successes, especially when I compare them against where I’m at now. For some reason we think that God’s preferred  method of growth is a steady 45 degree angle up with each success building on top of the last one. each opportunity followed by an even better one.

But what happens when our success is followed by a failure…and then a closed door…and then another? What do we do when the “good old days” become the “better old days” and we begin to wonder why God isn’t blessing now like he was then?

From Bad To Worse

The Israelites wondered the same thing. They went from captivity in Egypt through the desert to Jerusalem. They lived through the glory years of King David and saw King Solomon build the temple, which by Biblical accounts was a sight to behold. Then Jerusalem is destroyed and Israel is again led into captivity in Babylon.

After decades of captivity in a strange land they’re finally ready to return to Jerusalem. But there were tears instead of cheers as they returned home and saw their beautiful temple in ruins. They rebuild it but those who were old enough to remember the former temple couldn’t help but feel sadness for all they had lost.

Is there anyone here who saw the Temple the way it used to be, all glorious? And what do you see now? Not much, right?
Haggai 2:3 (The Message)

They weren’t in Babylon any more. But they weren’t really home either.

The Night Is Darkest Before The Dawn

The sunset on their past blessings turns to night as Israel enters a period of over 400 years of prophetic silence (the chronological span between the book of Malachi and the beginning of the New Testament). The night really was darkest before the dawn because during those 400 years Israel was conquered and occupied by the Roman armies. This time their captivity came to them in their own land.

Who then can wonder at the hesitation of the Jews to listen to this upstart carpenter from Galilee when he told them that “the downtrodden will be freed from their oppressors, and that the time of the Lord’s favor has come.” (Luke 4:18-19) Really? The Lord’s favor is here?

It was into this dark time of hopelessness that God chose to send his son with the message that the Jews had been waiting for thousands of years to hear.

Sometimes we’re right where God wants us to be but for some reason it doesn’t feel like home. We’re surrounded by reminders of what God has done in the past and wonder what in the world He’s doing now.

But maybe He’s not done with you. Maybe He’s trying to close a chapter in your life that we want to keep it open. Maybe He wants to close that chapter so He can write a new one.

Forget about what’s happened; don’t keep going over old history. Be alert, be present. I’m about to do something brand-new.
Isaiah 43:18-19 (The Message)