Releasing the Past into God’s Hands

 "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?" - Isaiah 43:18-19
 
Regret has a way of keeping you stuck, replaying the past like an endless loop. The "what ifs" can consume you, making it feel impossible to move forward. But God calls you into something different. He does not ask you to deny your past, but He does ask you not to let it define your future.
 
Israel knew this struggle well. After Jerusalem was destroyed and their people scattered in exile, they were haunted by memories of what used to be. Their homeland was in ruins, their families torn apart, and their identity as God's people felt fragile. They wrestled with the pain of their past, rehearsing their failures and wondering if God had abandoned them.
 
But in the middle of their sorrow, God spoke. He told them to stop dwelling on what was lost because He was doing something new. This was not a command to ignore their pain, but an invitation to trust that He was still at work. God had seen everything they went through. He had been there for their victories and their defeats, their joys and their heartbreaks. And now, He was calling them to shift their focus. Not because their pain did not matter, but because their future was not tied to their past.
 
The same is true for you. Regret can hold you captive, convincing you that your mistakes or losses have the final say. But God is stepping in to remind you that He is not finished. If you keep looking back, you will miss what He is preparing ahead. This is not about pretending the past never happened. It is about releasing it into God's hands so that He can do something greater.
 
God is offering you a breakthrough, but He needs you to trust Him enough to let go. When you stop allowing regret to shape your story, you make room for Him to write something new. The past does not own you. God does. And He is already making a way forward.