Jan 22 2015 A New Thing
“Behold, I will do a new thing, now it shall bring forth…” Isaiah 43:19 NKJV
I begin this post with a disclaimer: I am grateful to live where I do and know I am spoiled. Now let’s get started…
It is a sunshiney-75 degree-So—cal-January day. The warm wind brushes my clothes as I type.
Sure, living here is almost ideal weather-wise. But there is something we have always pined for—that white, fluffy stuff called snow.
Our dreams came true when the white stuff came calling a few weeks ago on the eve of New Year’s Eve!
My family was giddy; it was pure magic to us. The entire town was downright delirious with joy.
God did a new thing for us.
In Scripture, we find examples of God doing a new thing in the lives of His children.
The last part of the Old Testament book of Isaiah is called the “Book of Consolation.”
The prophet Isaiah consoles the Israelites in their Babylonian captivity and provides hope.
He foretells the captives’ upcoming deliverance from Babylon. But more importantly, tucked in this section too, is the prophecy of an unprecedented event, the coming of the Savior of the world.
“Behold, I will do a new thing…”
This promise was dramatic and exciting.
Sometimes, when God does a new thing, it is swift, surprising, and dramatic, a bit like our snow.
But in my life, God usually doesn’t work that way.
The Nation of Israel waited and waited for Christ to come. Hundreds and hundreds of years after Isaiah’s promise, the Messiah arrived.
I have desired God to do “a new thing” in my life for what seems like hundreds of years. This “new thing” I want God to do is so old now that it smells. The tears I’ve spilled over this issue could fill several buckets.
As a result, discouragement is a consistent companion.
Will it ever change?
The Nation of Israel waited an interminable amount of time for the Messiah to show up. Yet, didn’t He come through?
He always does.
So, I press on in my season of waiting. Fighting discouragement is an ongoing task, so I stay in God’s word and renew my courage daily.
When I grasp the hand of the God of Hope, discouragement shifts to courage. It always does, yet it almost surprises me.
Dear friend, what is your “old” new thing? Have you been waiting for what seems like hundreds of years? Have your tears filled buckets, too?
I urge you to PRESS ON during your season of waiting.
Root yourself in Scripture, seek support, and lay it down (again and again and again). Grasp the Hand of Hope. May He surprise you by turning your discouragement into courage.
Our God is mighty and surprising; He can even bring Southern California snow.
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