This verse has been on my mind the last couple of days.
See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert
Isaiah 43:19
I love that God is always doing something new, something different, simply because he can, He is so creative and redemptive.
But what I have been focusing on is the phrase Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
God is always at work in every situation, He is always doing something new. But do we perceive it? I think it can be so easy to focus on the problems or success at hand. Especially in the hard times, when things aren’t going the way we though they should. When our expectations are not met. We tend to focus on the struggle, the lack, the disappointment, the need, the hurt, the unmet expectations, the issue glaring in front of us. In these moments we my even accuse God of failing us. (I know I have) But when we take this focus it can be difficult to see what God is doing. He is probably doing a new thing, something we haven’t seen before and therefore didn’t expect. And when we fail to see the thing God is doing, then we fail to partner with Him in that. Now the thing that God is doing might not be what we were expecting, it might not be what we thought best, we might not like the new thing God is doing. We might not like His timing, it might take too long, years in fact, but His timing is always perfect. We must remember God always does the right thing, He always does the best thing, He always does what is most needed in our live, He always does what is best for His Kingdom. He is a Good Father and wants only the best for us, even if that is painful and confusing to us.
Then this verse goes on to say that God is going to make a way in an impossible situation. He will make a spring pop up in a desert. God is the God of the impossible. No matter what your struggle is, no matter what your need is, it’s easy for God to do. He can make water flow in the desert.
So, this week, especially if you find yourself in a struggle, stop, take your heart and eyes off of the struggle, and look with fresh eyes to what God might be doing that you didn’t expect. It might be small; it might be in seed form; it might be painful because He is growing us. But even this process might take time, it might take days, months to train our eyes to see the new thing God is doing. It’s not as much about the new thing, as it is the transformation needed to be able to perceive the new thing, the new way God is expressing Himself.
But you my friend are beautifully and wonderfully created in the image of God and God is beautifully and wonderfully working in your life…right now…in the midst of that struggle.
But take delight in the process of transformation, the eyes are worth the wait.