I Am Doing A New Thing

Isaiah 43:18-19                                        I Am Doing A New Thing 

“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” (NIV).

When hiking on a trail, the look must always be forward.  Looking backward makes forward steps uncertain because our eyes are looking in the wrong direction.  If we desire to reach the goal at the end of the trail, we have to keep looking, thinking, and moving forward.

The same thing is true of the Christian life.  As the Scripture above says, “Forget the former things.”  The implication is that keeping one’s mind on the past will hinder future development.  Our attention is to be focused on the future.  We need to clear our minds of the clutter of the past in order to provide room for what God has planned.  If we are going to see God’s “new thing,” we are going to have to be looking forward with expectancy.  God said he is doing something new.  Well, “God said it.  I believe it and that settles it for me.”  When God is doing something new, I want to see it and be involved in it.  It may take effort on my part to “perceive it,” but the perception will be well worth the effort.  If we look, we will be able to see His new way in the wilderness, and the refreshing streams where there was wasteland.  Once we perceive what God has planned and prepared, we can gain excitement for the work and become useful and worthy workers in His plan.  We are the ones who are here on earth, so we are the ones who will need to carry out His plans.  So, with the help and encouragement of God, let’s look until we perceive His plan and then excitedly dive in.  The rewards will be great, and some of them will be eternal.