Let the Past Stay Buried

Title: Let the Past Stay Buried.

Theme Scripture: Isaiah 43:18–19

Dateline: Akasia, Pretoria

By Harold Mawela

It was a Thursday afternoon in Akasia. The Johannesburg-Pretoria traffic had finally released me from its evening grip. As I turned into the street where I live, I noticed my neighbour, a brilliant young man named Thabo, sitting on the pavement. His head was buried in his hands. His engineering diploma from TUT was somewhere in that house—collecting dust while he collected rejection letters.

I stopped. I sat next to him. The sun was setting over the Magaliesberg.

"But' Harold," he said, his voice cracking. "I applied for forty-seven jobs. Forty-seven. Not one call back. Last year I trusted a cousin with my savings for a 'business opportunity'—the cousin is in Thailand now, and I am sitting on a pavement in Akasia."

We sat in silence. A taxi hooted in the distance. A child was selling amagwinya at the corner.

Then Thabo said the sentence that broke my heart and sparked this entire message: "I am still that boy who got cheated."

There it was. The grave he was still living in.

The Bully Called "Former Things"

The past is a liar with a loud voice. It follows you to the bathroom in the morning. It whispers during your job interview. It tries to trip you when you finally meet someone who treats you well.

But listen to the Lord today:

"Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing!" (Isaiah 43:18–19)

Do you hear the authority in that? God did not say, "Try to forget" or "Maybe consider moving on." He issued a command: FORGET.

Now, I must be precise here, because the enemy loves to twist words. This is not amnesia. God is not asking you to develop a medical condition. He is not saying the betrayal did not happen. He is not pretending the bankruptcy was a dream.

To forget, in the biblical sense, means to withdraw power from.

It means you stop giving the past the steering wheel of your present.

The Rearview Mirror Principle

Imagine, if you will, that you are driving a brand-new Toyota GR Corolla (since we are in Mzansi, let us dream a little). You are on the N1 heading to Polokwane. Now, tell me: how long will you survive if you drive while staring only into the rearview mirror?

You will not last three kilometers.

The rearview mirror is small for a reason. It is meant for a glance, not a gaze. Glance back for lessons what did you learn? What red flag will you never ignore again? Who showed their true colors?

But then you must stare forward for life.

Your destiny is not decoded by looking backward. Your destiny is decoded by aligning your daily habits with divine direction.

What you repeat, you become. What you neglect, you forfeit.

Thabo was still replaying the betrayal every morning. He was waking up and watching the credits of a movie that ended last year. Meanwhile, God was already doing a new thing but Thabo could not perceive it because his spiritual eyes were glued to the past.

A Logical Defense: The Case Against Dwelling

Let us define our terms clearly, because I am not interested in sentimental Christianity that feels good but produces nothing.

Dwelling (verb): To live, remain, or linger in a psychological or emotional space beyond its season of usefulness.

Remembering (verb): To recall information for the purpose of learning or gratitude.

The difference is power. Dwelling gives power to the enemy. Remembering (rightly done) gives glory to God.

Argument Formulated:

· Premise 1: God declares He is doing a new thing (Isaiah 43:19).

· Premise 2: A new thing requires new eyes, new perception, and new attention.

· Premise 3: Human attention is finite—you cannot look backward and forward simultaneously with equal focus.

· Conclusion: Therefore, dwelling on the past directly disables your ability to perceive and participate in God's present movement.

A common objection: "But Harold, you don't understand what they did to me. You don't know the abuse. You don't know the debt."

You are right. I do not know your specific pain. But I know the Healer of all pain. And here is what I have learned in Akasia, sitting with broken people from Soshanguve to Mabopane:

The depth of your wound does not determine the height of your destiny. Your response to the wound does.

The enemy wants you to believe that because the betrayal was severe, you have permission to live there forever. That is a lie from the pit of hell. God's forgiveness is deeper than your deepest wound.

Xenophobia, Tensions, and the Ghosts of the Nation

Now, let me speak prophetically to South Africa, because silence in the face of national error is not wisdom it is cowardice.

As I write this, our nation is burning with xenophobic violence. Five Mozambican citizens were killed recently in attacks, with hundreds displaced . Our President speaks of strengthening borders and cracking down on illegal immigration . And while I agree that every nation has the right to enforce its laws, we must sound the alarm against the spirit of "foreigner hunting."

Why? Because the same logic you use to reject the stranger is the same logic the enemy will use to reject your prayer.

Do you see the irony? We, as South Africans, cry out: "Forget the past! Apartheid is over! The former things are gone!"

But then we turn around and judge a brother from Zimbabwe or Malawi by the sins of a few.

*Here is the Harold Mawela Law of National Healing: A nation that demands forgiveness for its own history while withholding hospitality from its neighbor is building on sand. *

What if God is saying to South Africa: "I want to do a new thing in this nation. But you are still drinking the poison of 2008, 2015, 2019, and now 2026. You are still calling the foreigner 'the problem' while your own corruption eats your foundation."

Attack is the proof that your enemy anticipates your success. The enemy attacks the foreigner because he fears what unity could produce. The enemy makes you hate the refugee because he knows that if South Africans and our African brothers and sisters link arms, the economy of this continent would shake the world.

Do not be a puppet of the past.

The Theological Anchor: Jesus Christ

Let us go to the Cross, because every other argument is decoration without the Cornerstone.

Jesus Christ looked at the past the entire weight of human sin, betrayal, murder, adultery, lies, idolatry and He said, "It is finished" (John 19:30).

That is not "it is started." That is not "try harder." That is FINISHED.

If God the Father can look at the murder of His own Son and turn it into the salvation of the world, then surely He can take your bankruptcy, your divorce, your business failure, your bad decision, your addiction relapse, and turn it into a testimony.

But here is the catch: You cannot repurpose what you refuse to release.

The grave of your former things must be sealed. Not visited every weekend. Not decorated with flowers of regret. Sealed.

Practical Laws for Forward Living

Let me give you actionable wisdom, because faith without action is a corpse (James 2:26).

Law 1: What you feed grows; what you starve dies.

Stop narrating your failure to everyone who will listen. Every time you tell the story of how they hurt you, you water that grave. Let it dry.

Law 2: You cannot hate your way into blessing.

"You will never become rich until you hate poverty" is true but hate poverty by building, not by cursing the rich. Apply the same to your past. Hate the bondage by walking in freedom, not by rehearsing the chains.

Law 3: Your future is not a sequel; it is a premiere.

A sequel rehashes old characters and old jokes. A premiere introduces something no one has seen before. God is not making "Failure 2: Electric Boogaloo." He is making a new thing. Show up for the premiere.

Law 4: Each relationship nurtures a strength or a weakness.

If your friends only gather to complain about the past, they are undertakers, not companions. Fire them from your inner circle.

The Personal Story (Because I Must Be Honest)

I, Harold Mawela, sitting here in Akasia, have graves I had to seal.

There was a season when the music industry the very industry where God gave me a platform closed its doors on me. Contracts I deserved went to others. People I helped forgot my number. I woke up in the middle of the night replaying conversations, planning revenge speeches in my head.

And one morning, the Lord said to me: "Harold, you are writing songs about your enemies, but I am trying to write symphonies for your future."

I had to choose. The rearview mirror or the windshield.

I chose the windshield. And that is when albums like "The Boss" and "Blessed" were born . Not from a place of pain, but from a place of purpose.

God did not waste my pain. But He also refused to let me live in it.

Prayer of Release

Let us pray not like people who are begging, but like people who have authority in Christ.

Lord Jesus Christ, You who walked out of the grave, You have the final authority over every grave in my life.

I stand at the cemetery of my former things—the betrayals, the bankruptcies, the bad decisions, the sins committed against me, and the sins I committed myself.

By the power of Your blood, I seal these graves. They have no power over me except the power I give them. Today, I withdraw the power.

I refuse to let the past bully me into missing my premiere.

I refuse to let yesterday's sunset block today's sunrise.

I renounce the spirit of dwelling. I renounce the spirit of offense. I renounce the spirit of "they will pay."

Father, I ask You: give me new eyes to perceive the new thing. Grant me the courage to face forward. Grant me the grace to forget what You have forgiven. 

And for South Africa Lord, heal our land. Help us to release the xenophobia, the tribalism, the hatred. Help us to be a nation that forgets the former divisions and embraces the new thing You want to do across this continent.

I pray this in the mighty, matchless, grave-busting name of Jesus Christ.

Amen.

Closing Charge

The former things have no power except the power you give them. Stop feeding them. Let them starve.

You are not who they said you were.

You are not what happened to you.

You are who God says you are and He says you are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus, seated in heavenly places, equipped for a new season.

Now stand up, child of God.

Wipe your face.

Stare forward.

The premiere has begun. Do not miss it.

Harold Mawela

Akasia, Pretoria

June 2026

"Your destiny is decoded in your daily habits. What you repeat, you become. What you neglect, you forfeit." — Harold Mawela