Isaiah 43: 16 – 19 The Message
The end of one year and beginning of another makes us think about new things. Many people consider making New Years resolutions.
Most forget, ignore or fizzle out on these, but it still feels good to think about this fresh start each year. Our problem is that we are human -flawed and more often than not, inconsistent. But there is One who is totally and ever faithful. He doesn’t change. He won’t give up on us part way through. He is not flawed – He is perfect.
This is why, I believe, God brought this passage in Isaiah to my mind this morning. I particularly love verses 18 & 19. “Forget about what’s happened; don’t keep going over old history. Be alert, be present. I’m about to do something brand new. It’s bursting out! Don’t you see it? There it is! I’m making a road through the desert, rivers in the badlands.”
How often we drag what’s happened in the past with us into the present…………and on into the future? I can’t help but think of the popular song from the movie, Frozen………..Let it Go. But we don’t let it go…………..do we? Not completely.
The next part give us clues how to let go……………”Be alert, be present.”
How alert are we really? Honestly most of us should start a new support group – Multitaskers Anonymous. We are so busy and running so hard, it’s impossible to truly be alert to what God is doing. We miss so much. And being present?? Our phones are wonderful things, but they distract us and take us away from meaningful listening, sharing, fellowship………..loving one another.
What’s this “something brand new” that God is about to do? We don’t know. But because He has said it, we must choose to believe it. It’s faith………..pure faith. Hebrews 11: 1 says it best, “Now faith is the confidence in what we hope for & assurance about what we do not see.”NIV If we could figure it all out, we wouldn’t need faith. Putting faith in something we can see, something we know…………isn’t faith. Trusting God for this “something brand new“………… believing though we cannot see…………….relying on God’s character & who He is………………….remembering who we are in Christ and all He has done before……….choosing to take that step or that leap forward…………..that’s faith.
Walking our place on the planet makes us tired. Life can be unfair, upsetting, tragic. We can easily have tired hope. But faith………………Faith reminds us that God is at work in the silence. God really is about to do something brand new.
Let’s hold on to this faith…………….this hope. Let’s encourage one another to push through the tired hope and watch our faith become sight. Remember God’s word says,”Trust God from the bottom of your heart; don’t try to figure out everything on your own. Listen for God’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; He’s the one who will keep you on track.” The Message