New Things
“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.”
Isaiah 43:18–19
Well, here we are in the opening hours of a brand-new year. Our walls display bright, new calendars. Our desks sport sharp, new date books. And for at least one friend, it means that he gets to carry around a brand-new Franklin Planner. For better or worse, 2020 has arrived!
Typically, the New Year carries with it the idea of new beginnings. A fresh start…a clean slate. But in reality, we don’t start out all that clean and new, do we? 2019 may be gone, but it’s not yet forgotten.
Like the two-faced Roman god Janus, for whom the month of January is named, while we look forward to future days with anticipation, we also look back at former days with regret. Losses we endured. Disappointments we experienced. And then there are the mistakes we made.
We have all made choices we’d like to change. But no amount of remorse can rewind that clock. And apart from the lessons we’ve learned, there is nothing to gain by staring in the rearview mirror.
It’s far better to repent where we haven’t and lay hold of God’s new thing.
We have all made choices we’d like to change. But no amount of remorse can rewind that clock. It’s far better to repent where we haven’t and lay hold of God’s new thing.
Pressing on
The apostle Paul got this. Look at how he handled his past: “One thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal” (Philippians 3:13–14a). Paul knew that if he was going to lay hold of the purpose for which Christ laid hold of him, he was going to have to forget some things.
God wants you to do the same. He is faithfully working all things together for good. Everything that’s happened in your life – every forward step and backward stumble – is being used by God to form you into the image of His Son and prepare you for what He wants to do right now (Romans 8:28–29).
Everything that’s happened in your life – every forward step and backward stumble – is being used by God to form you into the image of His Son and prepare you for what He wants to do right now.
Rivers in the Desert
Can you perceive the “new thing” God is doing in your life? Are you discerning the opportunities and open doors that “spring forth” from His hand?
Sadly, not everyone who follows Christ has eyes to see the new things He is doing. If you’re busy looking over your shoulder in regret or fixating on If only, you might well miss it.
Perhaps there is a pattern of sin in your life or an addiction you’re battling. Maybe you’re trapped in fearful anxiety or in the grips of a relational heartbreak. All too easily we can fixate on such things.
Stare too long at the negative and you may conclude that it can never be different for you. There’s no way out of this. My life isn’t what I thought it would be . . . and I’ve only made it worse with my choices. I’m too far gone for a “new thing.”
Listen, your situation is no surprise to the One who made you. And it’s not beyond His redemptive power. The words from Isaiah make this clear: “I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.”
God is basically saying, “No wilderness is a match for Me. I make rivers in the most impossible places. I will lift you out of that mire and pour new life into your parched spirit. Trust Me.”
One of my favorite worship songs is by Don Moen. It’s titled, “God Will Make a Way.” Consider these lyrics:
God will make a way
Where there seems to be no way
He works in ways we cannot see
He will make a way for meHe will be my guide
Hold me closely to His side
With love and strength for each new day
He will make a way, He will make a wayBy a roadway in the wilderness, He'll lead me
And rivers in the desert will I see
Heaven and Earth will fade but His Word will still remain
And He will do something new todayOh, God will make a way
Where there seems to be no way
He works in ways we cannot see
He will make a way for me
The fact is our God is the author of new things. He can transform a lifeless desert into a life-giving opportunity.
God is the author of new things. He can transform a lifeless desert into life-giving opportunity.
The same power that raised Jesus from the dead can work His newness in your circumstances. Bring that dry, difficult, despair-inducing place to the Lord. Invite Him to make a way in your wilderness with His living newness – and don’t look back.
PRAYER
Father, as I come to You in this new year, I want to look forward and not backward. I believe that You can and will make a way for me through the wilderness. Help me to entrust what feels hopeless into Your life-giving hands. Convict me when my eyes start looking back in regret and cause me to keep them fixed on Your Son Jesus, my Savior, who makes all things new. In His name I pray, amen.
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