The Beauty of Starting Fresh with a Clean Slate - iBelieve Truth: A Devotional for Women - September 5, 2026

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"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 

There is something quietly hopeful about a blank page, a new season, a schedule that hasn't been written yet. Most of us feel it — the small exhale that comes with a fresh start. A new year. A new month. Even a new week can carry the impression that something can at last be different.

But for so many of us, the clean slate does not stay clean for long. Old patterns, unresolved wounds, all the ways we’ve tried before and failed - we show up to this fresh thing carrying the full weight of the old things. And suddenly the fresh start feels stale.

Here's what I've learned: God is not surprised by what we bring. He is not handing us a clean slate and hoping we don't mess it up this time. He is the one doing the new thing. The fresh start isn't ours to manufacture. It is His to give — and He gives it with extraordinary generosity.

Isaiah 43 is addressed to people who had not just made little mistakes now and then — they had experienced catastrophic loss and exile. God was not speaking newness into a mild disappointment. He was speaking it into utter devastation.

And into that, God says: " Forget the former things. And it’s not because the former things didn't happen, or impact anyone, or matter. It’s because what God is doing next is significant enough to require full attention and hope. "Do not dwell on the past" is an invitation to lift our eyes toward what God is actively initiating - rather than staying stuck in the past.

In the phrase, "See, I am doing a new thing," the verb tense matters. Not I will do, but I am doing. The new thing is already in motion. The question God asks is tender and almost surprising: Do you not perceive it? He is not frustrated by their inability to see it. He is gently, urgently pointing – Look! I am already at work.

Friend, the clean slate is not a reward for getting it right. It is a gift from the God who makes all things new. If you need some motivation for starting over, consider the following:

Identify
What you're carrying from the past that God is inviting you to release. This is not about pretending the past didn't happen. It is about naming the specific thing — the failure, the grief, the disappointment, the version of yourself you keep punishing — and consciously offering it to God.

Ask God
What new thing are you doing this season? Then sit with that question in prayer this week. Journal any answers without editing them. Often, the new thing God is doing looks smaller or stranger than we expected, and we miss it because we're looking for the dramatic. Ask Him to help you pay attention.

Mark the Fresh Start 
With a concrete act. Write a prayer of release. Light a candle. Take communion. Go for a walk and speak aloud what you are leaving behind. These kinds of practices matter — they help us embody what we are trying to believe.

Resist the Urge to Rush
New growth is tender. Isaiah's image is of something springing up — quiet, green, alive. Tend to it rather than push it.

What former thing might God be asking you to stop dwelling on today?

Let's pray ...

Jesus,
I tend to spend more time looking backward than ahead. I get stuck because I rehearse past failures, hold on to disappointments, and ruminate on the past. I show up to new seasons weighed down by old ones. I need your help to do something different. You make all things new. You speak life into death. You make waterways in the wilderness. You do not write unfinished stories.  
Help me to pay attention to what you are doing. Open my eyes to the new thing that is springing up, here and now. I release what was, and I open my hands to what is coming. Lord, You were faithful before, and You are faithful now — Your mercies are new every morning.
Amen.

What truth from today’s devotional is God using to encourage your heart? Share your reflection and join our conversation in the iBelieve Truth Devotional Forum.

Photo Credit: ©Getty Images/Delmaine Donson

Aubrey Sampson is a pastor, author, speaker, and cohost of the podcast, Nothing is Wasted. She is the author of Big Feeling Days, The Louder Song, Overcomer, and her newest release, Known. Find and follow her @aubsamp on Instagram. Go to aubreysampson.com for more. 

Related Resource: How Faith Finds Us When Life Takes a Detour

Joining us this week is worship leader turned viral comedian Heather Land. After growing up in the shadow of her mother’s decades-long addiction, Heather reflects on how this painful season—alongside her unexpected shift from the worship stage to the world of comedy—taught her that while our paths may take unforeseen turns, our core calling to encourage and uplift others remains constant.

Later in the episode, we’ll hear from Rachel Kessler, an Episcopal priest and Kenyon College chaplain who completed her PhD in medieval studies at the University of Toronto before pivoting to seminary after hitting academic burnout, then built a following as the “Nerdy Priest” on TikTok after a student secretly downloaded the app on her phone. 

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