I have a phrase posted on my wall in my bathroom which says, “It is what it is. Onward.” I find it emphasizes something I often need reminding of. It’s so easy to get stuck in the past, thinking, “Well, what if this?” or “What if that?” We can get caught up in regret, swimming in wishes that things were somehow different, that people were somehow different. Depression comes easily to those who drown in the sea of shame or tread in the water of disillusionment. Far too often I have lost myself in this manner, trying to come up for air using food or movies or anything else that could just take my mind off the discouragements I could linger in.
“It is what it is.” We can’t change the past. No time machine has been invented. But I do know a God that is above and outside of time who sees the end from the beginning. I don’t claim to know how it all works together, but He does. Not only does He know, but He works it all together for good when we lean on Him, trust and rely on Him. I know it’s not easy to believe it, especially when we’re in the thick of the hardest times of our lives. When I went through the two worst years of my life (2014-2016), at first I tried the avenues of escape but ultimately heard God’s voice speaking through Needtobreathe’s song, “Multiplied,” saying, “I have surrendered to Your design.” I couldn’t change my situation, so I chose to be content in it. I chose to believe, it was what it was. And God’s design is always better than my own.
“Onward.” I’m reminded of another song that helped me with this concept back in 2009 after we moved back to Atlanta from Peru. I had lost so much and been filled with so much pain, anger and bitterness. But my ears welcomed the words:
It’s time for healing, time to move on. It’s time to fix what’s been broken too long. Time make right what has been wrong. It’s time to find my way to where I belong. (Sanctus Real, “Whatever You’re Doing”)
I didn’t want to keep reliving that hurt and resentment. I had to come to God with it all…and surrender. As you can see, this has been a recurring theme in my life. And I know I’m not the only one.
Today is the first day of the 2018 Lenten season, Ash Wednesday. The word Lent itself is derived from the Anglo-Saxon word “lencten,” meaning “Spring.” Spring is a time when the old dead things are forgotten and when new, fresh things are born. The season changes as we prepare for Easter, a celebration of the new life that we have because of Christ’s resurrection. So I take this verse to heart, knowing that I am commanded to move on into a new season of my own life:
Forget about what’s happened; don’t keep going over old history. 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. (Isaiah 43:19 MSG)
I remember a friend telling me once to bury the dead things in my life and let them be. It was time. It is time to be alert and present in today so that I can perceive the new things that God is doing, which may even be miraculous and in answers to prayer. That may mean leaving a piece of myself behind too, but God is in the business of making things whole again, including my heart:
Therefore if anyone is in Christ [that is, grafted in, joined to Him by faith in Him as Savior], he is a new creature [reborn and renewed by the Holy Spirit]; the old things [the previous moral and spiritual condition] have passed away. Behold, new things have come [because spiritual awakening brings a new life]. (2 Corinthians 5:17 AMP)
A new life. Not a different version of the old. If you are truly in Christ by faith, you have been reborn! Renewed! The old things are dead. Let’s not dig them up anymore. Let’s go onward, clothed in something new.
The Art of Choosing True Life 