A few years ago, I upgraded my wifi service to adjust to the growing number of devices connected to my network. After researching several companies, I settled on Google Fiber. At the time, I opted for 500 Megabytes (Mbps) at a monthly rate of $50. A pretty good deal!
However, it appeared I was going to have a severe case of buyer’s remorse when I began to experience problems connecting to the internet, whether it be through a personal computer, smartphone, tablet, or television.
To say I was angry was an understatement, and I wanted very much to share my dissatisfaction with Google. Thanks to a very patient and understanding representative, we started an exhaustive troubleshooting session. Still, nothing we did worked.
In frustration, while attempting once more to connect with my television, an error message suddenly appeared onscreen. It read, “Unable to connect to the internet. Two active routers are detected.” In a facepalm moment, I forgot that I accidentally turned on my old router, which I never disconnected from my personal computer.
Highly embarrassed, I profusely apologized to the representative for my demeanor and God for my unbecoming behavior. The new Google Fiber connection I needed to get access to the internet couldn’t occur until I severed the old connection.
We’ve heard the adage “to age like fine wine.” It means someone becomes more mature and thus attractive as they age. Jesus says in Matthew 9:17, “No one puts new wine into old wineskins. For the old skins would burst from the pressure, spilling the wine and ruining the skins. New wine is stored in new wineskins so that both are preserved.”
During this time, people made wineskins from the skin of animals. When ready for use, they became extremely flexible and could expand to accommodate newly fermented wine. In contrast, an old wineskin became brittle and lost its flexibility. It would burst from the pressure of newly fermented wine poured into it.
A mark of maturity is to own up to past mistakes and make necessary changes to avoid them going forward. Solomon writes in Proverbs 28:13, “People who conceal their sins will not prosper, but if they confess and turn from them, they will receive mercy.”
So, what thought do I want to ferment in my first blog post of the year? The new and the old can’t coexist. Again, it’s always wise to look into the past and learn from earlier shortcomings. One of my favorite authors, CS Lewis, wrote in his essay, Learning in War-Time, “We need intimate knowledge of the past. Not that the past has any magic about it, but because we cannot study the future, and yet need something to set against the present, to remind us that the basic assumptions have been quite different in different periods and that much which seems certain to the uneducated is merely temporary fashion.”
That said, if we’re consumed with the past, it’s detrimental to our growth. What should be a soundbite in time becomes a roaring echo that only God’s voice can silence. If we’re willing to embrace the present and look to the future, God will begin to work on our behalf. Then, He promises when He speaks from Isaiah 43:19, “For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.”
There are new connections God is waiting to set up for us. Therefore, we must choose to “focus on this one thing: forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead (Philippians 3:13).” All He needs is that we put our hands in His hands and let Him lead.
This year and beyond, I encourage you to let it, let him, let her, let them go, and vaya con Dios (go with God).
Here’s to you and a prosperous 2022!
Source (clicked link will open in a new window):
Sermon: “Learning In War-Time: A sermon preached in the Church of St. Mary the Virgin, Oxford, Autumn, 1939” (see page 5)
