New Thing
“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. The wild beasts will honor me, the jackals and the ostriches, for I give water in the wilderness, rivers in the desert, to give drink to my chosen people, the people whom I formed for myself that they might declare my praise. “Yet you did not call upon me, O Jacob; but you have been weary of me, O Israel!” (Isaiah 43:19-22)
Isaiah 43:19 is a very familiar passage that is often quoted to bring encouragement to others who may be discouraged. There is great encouragement to be found in this passage of scripture, but we must be careful to interpret it in its proper context. Remember, there may be more than one application to certain passages of scripture, but there’s only one meaning. And we must clearly understand the meaning in order to rightly apply the word of God to our lives.
When Isaiah wrote, “Behold, I am doing a new thing…” he was addressing the children of Israel who were exiled in Babylon. During this Babylonian captivity, the people of God had become discouraged and were losing hope of better days ahead. They were so discouraged by their past and present circumstances that they got stuck. They couldn’t see the new thing God was working in them and around them so as to move forward to what God had for them. He was going to bring them back to their land, but He also had plans to use them in new ways where they would be a witness to His glory.
Now with this in mind, I want us to consider 3 reasons why they were stuck and unable to perceive the new thing that God was up to.
Number one, they were stuck in the past. Notice that before the familiar words of verse 19, "Behold, I am doing a new thing," in verse 18, the Lord said through the prophet Isaiah, “Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old” (v.18). The Israelites had a tendency to so focus on the fruitfulness of the past or the failures of the past that they were unable to move forward in the present.
Likewise, we can be so focused on the glory days, that we are unable to perceive the new thing that God wants to do in and through our lives. Or sometimes we can be so filled with regret because of past failures that we are blinded to the grace of God that restores, redeems, and gives us new beginnings. If we confess our sins, He’s faithful to forgive us (1 John 1:9). So faithful that we can look forward to the new things the Lord will do in our lives.
Secondly, not only do we miss out on the new thing that God is doing because we are stuck in the past, but also because we neglect to stand in prayer. There was a vast wilderness that separated the Israelites in Babylon from their home land. But God reminds them, “I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert” (v.19). Like the song goes, God can make a way where there seems to be no way. But God’s promises are not meant for us to sit on and do nothing while we wait for them to come to past. God’s promises are meant for us to stand, first and foremost, in prayer.
Notice that in verse 22 the Lord said, “Yet you did not call upon me, O Jacob; but you have been weary of me, O Israel!” The Israelites were so stuck in the past and wallowing in regret that they neglected to call upon God in prayer. In fact, not only did they neglect to pray to God, they were also weary with God. Why were they weary with God, which among other things, means that they thought that prayer was a waste of time? I’ve had others tell me, including professing Christians, that they’ve given up on prayer or God because God didn’t answer their petitions or requests.
God answers prayer! But the greatest value of prayer is not that prayer can change things, but that prayer changes us. More than that, the greatest blessing of prayer is communion with God; encountering His presence, which is what transforms our lives. If you have not yet discovered that seeking God’s face and not just His hand is the greatest blessing of prayer, then you will get weary with God too and miss God’s best for your life. God is both the rewarder and the reward of those who diligently seek Him (Heb. 11:6).
Lastly, sometimes we are blind to the new things God is doing because we are not serving Him where we are. God wants us to bloom where we are planted. But often times, like the Israelites, we can be so stuck in the past or so consumed with the difficulties or our present circumstances that we think the only answer is finding a way out. God is able to deliver us from difficult circumstances, but sometimes God’s plan is not to deliver us from the fiery furnace, but to deliver us through fiery trials. God uses fiery trials to refine us and bring us into new heights of faith and greater intimacy with God.
It’s been said, you’ll never know that God is all you need until God is all you have. But too often when things, like marriage, become challenging, people abandon ship. They think that the problem in their marriage is that they married the wrong person. They think the answer to their unhappiness is a new job, a new marriage or a new church. When in fact God may want to do a new thing where they are and that new thing begins by discovering that His grace is enough. The new and greater thing that God wants to do is not change your circumstances but to change you. And when God changes you He can also use you to effect positive change around you.
Christ died for our sin and rose again so that all who receive Him as Savior and Lord can be made new (2 Corinthians 5:17). If you’re in Christ by faith, you are no longer defined by your past. You have a new identity. As the Apostle Paul explained: “And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God” (1 Corinthians 6:11). Our new identify in Christ as blood bought children of God doesn’t mean that we’ve arrived. When we get to heaven Jesus will make all things new (Revelation 21:5). Among other things, this means that in the new heavens and the new earth we will be in glorified bodies that will never taste death. The Apostle John said of Jesus, “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away” (Revelation 21:4). But until then, we are still a work in progress. To the Ephesian believers the Apostles Paul wrote, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10).
Beloved, God is working in us and around us. He’s doing a new thing. Let’s not get stuck in the past. Instead, may we live out our new identity in Christ day by day as we stand in worship-based prayer and serve God in the power of the Spirit where we are to the glory of His name.
In your service,
Pastor Marco
Isaiah 43:19 is a very familiar passage that is often quoted to bring encouragement to others who may be discouraged. There is great encouragement to be found in this passage of scripture, but we must be careful to interpret it in its proper context. Remember, there may be more than one application to certain passages of scripture, but there’s only one meaning. And we must clearly understand the meaning in order to rightly apply the word of God to our lives.
When Isaiah wrote, “Behold, I am doing a new thing…” he was addressing the children of Israel who were exiled in Babylon. During this Babylonian captivity, the people of God had become discouraged and were losing hope of better days ahead. They were so discouraged by their past and present circumstances that they got stuck. They couldn’t see the new thing God was working in them and around them so as to move forward to what God had for them. He was going to bring them back to their land, but He also had plans to use them in new ways where they would be a witness to His glory.
Now with this in mind, I want us to consider 3 reasons why they were stuck and unable to perceive the new thing that God was up to.
Number one, they were stuck in the past. Notice that before the familiar words of verse 19, "Behold, I am doing a new thing," in verse 18, the Lord said through the prophet Isaiah, “Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old” (v.18). The Israelites had a tendency to so focus on the fruitfulness of the past or the failures of the past that they were unable to move forward in the present.
Likewise, we can be so focused on the glory days, that we are unable to perceive the new thing that God wants to do in and through our lives. Or sometimes we can be so filled with regret because of past failures that we are blinded to the grace of God that restores, redeems, and gives us new beginnings. If we confess our sins, He’s faithful to forgive us (1 John 1:9). So faithful that we can look forward to the new things the Lord will do in our lives.
Secondly, not only do we miss out on the new thing that God is doing because we are stuck in the past, but also because we neglect to stand in prayer. There was a vast wilderness that separated the Israelites in Babylon from their home land. But God reminds them, “I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert” (v.19). Like the song goes, God can make a way where there seems to be no way. But God’s promises are not meant for us to sit on and do nothing while we wait for them to come to past. God’s promises are meant for us to stand, first and foremost, in prayer.
Notice that in verse 22 the Lord said, “Yet you did not call upon me, O Jacob; but you have been weary of me, O Israel!” The Israelites were so stuck in the past and wallowing in regret that they neglected to call upon God in prayer. In fact, not only did they neglect to pray to God, they were also weary with God. Why were they weary with God, which among other things, means that they thought that prayer was a waste of time? I’ve had others tell me, including professing Christians, that they’ve given up on prayer or God because God didn’t answer their petitions or requests.
God answers prayer! But the greatest value of prayer is not that prayer can change things, but that prayer changes us. More than that, the greatest blessing of prayer is communion with God; encountering His presence, which is what transforms our lives. If you have not yet discovered that seeking God’s face and not just His hand is the greatest blessing of prayer, then you will get weary with God too and miss God’s best for your life. God is both the rewarder and the reward of those who diligently seek Him (Heb. 11:6).
Lastly, sometimes we are blind to the new things God is doing because we are not serving Him where we are. God wants us to bloom where we are planted. But often times, like the Israelites, we can be so stuck in the past or so consumed with the difficulties or our present circumstances that we think the only answer is finding a way out. God is able to deliver us from difficult circumstances, but sometimes God’s plan is not to deliver us from the fiery furnace, but to deliver us through fiery trials. God uses fiery trials to refine us and bring us into new heights of faith and greater intimacy with God.
It’s been said, you’ll never know that God is all you need until God is all you have. But too often when things, like marriage, become challenging, people abandon ship. They think that the problem in their marriage is that they married the wrong person. They think the answer to their unhappiness is a new job, a new marriage or a new church. When in fact God may want to do a new thing where they are and that new thing begins by discovering that His grace is enough. The new and greater thing that God wants to do is not change your circumstances but to change you. And when God changes you He can also use you to effect positive change around you.
Christ died for our sin and rose again so that all who receive Him as Savior and Lord can be made new (2 Corinthians 5:17). If you’re in Christ by faith, you are no longer defined by your past. You have a new identity. As the Apostle Paul explained: “And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God” (1 Corinthians 6:11). Our new identify in Christ as blood bought children of God doesn’t mean that we’ve arrived. When we get to heaven Jesus will make all things new (Revelation 21:5). Among other things, this means that in the new heavens and the new earth we will be in glorified bodies that will never taste death. The Apostle John said of Jesus, “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away” (Revelation 21:4). But until then, we are still a work in progress. To the Ephesian believers the Apostles Paul wrote, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10).
Beloved, God is working in us and around us. He’s doing a new thing. Let’s not get stuck in the past. Instead, may we live out our new identity in Christ day by day as we stand in worship-based prayer and serve God in the power of the Spirit where we are to the glory of His name.
In your service,
Pastor Marco