Quote: “Don’t cry because it’s over; smile because it happened.” – Dr. Seuss
Scripture: Isaiah 43:19 ESV – “Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.”
Some Thoughts: A “new thing” – how resistant are you?
In the study guide to the book Irresistible by Andy Stanley, he lists some phrases. He says that something “new” can bring about strong emotions in a person. The quiz is to be answered with the emotion you feel as you read each phrase.
What emotions do you feel as you read these? “New season, New job, New friend, New car, New habit, New information, New thinking, New chapter, New beginning, New attitude, New home, New neighbor, New challenge, New experience, New wardrobe, New perspective, New goal.”
There are many others that you could probably think of to add to the list: “New diet, New puppy, New year, New clothes,” and more. When you analyze your emotions, it’s kind of interesting as to why certain phrases elicit the emotions they do.
“New things” don’t usually bother us. It’s when we realize that the “new” means letting go of the “old” that we become bothered. There’s a little security in the old. There’s familiarity. There’s a feeling of stability and maybe even predictability. There’s even some pain and grief in letting go of the “old.”
What if…the “new thing” that God wants to do in our lives will make us better and stronger than before? Why wouldn’t it? Knowing what we know about God and knowing Who He is, He wouldn’t bring a “new thing” that would destroy us or make us defective or worse than we were before! Even if the “new thing” seems painful, unfamiliar, unpredictable, can we trust that God is allowing it – or bringing it – for the purpose of making us better?
In The Passion Translation, the Scripture listed above reads: “I am doing something brand new, something unheard of. Even now it sprouts and grows and matures. Don’t you perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and open up flowing streams in the desert.” Are we ready for God to do “something unheard of” in our lives? That takes faith. That takes trust. The “letting go” of the old may take stepping away from self-reliance, stability, and security. But it’s so worth it.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, I admit I have trouble with “perceiving the new thing You want to do”. Just like the Israelites, I find myself crying out that I want to “go back to Egypt”; that things were better then. Forgive me for not trusting that You are a good, good Father, and that Your plans are to “prosper, not harm”. I surrender my self to Your will, knowing that You want me to grow to be more like Christ. Search my heart, Lord, and see if there be any “old” way that needs to go so You can do a “new” thing. Thank You.
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