“Do not remember the former things
or consider the things of old.
I am about to do a new thing;
now it springs forth; do you not perceive it?
I will make a way in the wilderness
and rivers in the desert.” Isaiah 43:18-19
As we round the bend of seasons into fall, we’re starting to see colors appear in the trees. It is a glorious time of year in Minnesota. Soon one by one, and later by the hundreds, those beautiful colored leaves will fall. There will be a long (often it seems too long!) season of dormancy, and then the sunshine of April and May will call forth a fresh tint of yellow on distant twigs and then green, as buds begin to open into tiny new leaves.
We have seen enough seasons go by to know this. But imagine if you were a deciduous tree at this time of year, as the days grow shorter and the nights cool down. Imagine if you saw your leaves turn yellow or brown, and then dry up and fall. You might panic, right? Losing parts of your body to decompose in the soil or blow into the next county would be terrifying.
You might, in response, try to hold on more tightly to your leaves. You might attempt to pick up the fallen ones and paste them back onto your limbs. You might weep bitterly for the loss of foliage you spent all summer growing. In your grief, you might not see the bigger picture that includes thousands of new leaves budding and growing in the spring.
But trees don’t panic like this, do they? It is a purely human tendency to clutch and hold on to the ways things used to be, whether personal or societal. We mourn over losing things we have invested our lives in. We resist change. Whether it is the only stoplight in Dodge County, or the closing of the church on the corner, or an old bitterness we carry against a family member or neighbor, or a self-image we nurtured for many years that is no longer the truth... it’s hard to say goodbye to what has “always” been.
Trees can teach us how to let go.
And so can the prophet. When Isaiah addressed the people of Israel in this part of their story, they were exiled in a foreign country they hated. They were homesick and desperate to go back to the way things were before. But Isaiah told them no, “Do not remember the former things or consider the things of old.” The prophet gives them a message from God: “I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth; do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.”
God sees the bigger picture. God sees the thousands of new leaves budding and growing after the winter of despair. God sees the path of opportunity and the river of life that wind through the wilderness, and walks with us on it. I find it helpful to trust God has that greater perspective, even when I have trouble seeing past loss, regret and nostalgia myself.
This fall, as you watch the leaves drift lazily to the ground or blow briskly off the trees in a shower of color, consider what old things God wants you to let go of, so God can find room in you for something new. What attitudes or habits can you let drop and blow away, so your Creator can lead you on to something better?
