He is doing a new thing

On Sunday we considered how God makes a “New Way For A New Day.” Isaiah 43:18 & 19 says, “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? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.”

It can be easy for us to focus on the things of the past— whether it’s a tendency to cling to the way we have seen God already work in our lives, or whether it’s a tendency to fixate on our past shortcomings, pain, and defeat. We can also get stuck in the present, immersed in our current challenges and circumstances, making it hard to see beyond them. But God is encouraging us to look ahead- to anticipate the new things He wants to do. We are faced with a question from this Scripture— Do we perceive it? Do we have a vision for the new thing God wants to do in us…in our families, our church, our community? And for the things that may already be springing up from His Spirit?

Just because we may not see the way forward, it doesn’t mean there isn’t a way forward and that it isn’t being carved out for us. God delights in blessing and delivering His children, and He invites us to a place of hope, expectation and curiosity- He says to us, “See, I am doing a new thing!”

Daily Challenge—This week, let’s ask God each day for a vision of the pathway that He is making for us in our wilderness and the streams of refreshment and provision that He is producing in our lives. As we begin to perceive what God is doing, we will find ourselves with renewed hope and faith for the greater freedom (and greater impact) that He is leading us to- Lord, let it be! D. Schneider