“Behold, I will do a new thing, now it shall spring forth; shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness andrivers in the desert.” Isaiah 43:19

Something New

What was the last new thing you had? A new thing can break the humdrum and bring freshness and joy. I anticipate a new book by a favorite author, I laugh more at a new joke I’ve never heard, getting a new outfit or haircut can give me boost of confidence. I get excited to have a new friend, a new puppy, or a new opportunity.

The beauty of it is that God’s not boring. He doesn’t provide the same way for everyone or answer prayers always in the same timing. He reveals new things in His Word when I reread passages in a new season of life. He told Isaiah, “I have made you hear new things from this time, even hidden things, and you did not know them” (Isaiah 48:6).

I’ve noticed He is particularly faithful to allow me to hear new things when I am going out on a limb to follow Him. He also gives us a fresh measure of His mercy each day so we can have another chance to pursue Him, even if yesterday we totally blew it. After lamenting Israel’s sin, the author reminded the nation, “Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; great isYour faithfulness” (Lamentations 3:22-23).

If we will choose to follow Him, He gives us a new identity and calls us by a new name. “You shall be called by a new name, which the mouth of the Lord will name” (Isaiah 62:2).

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17).

He softens our hearts so we can feel new compassion for others and love deeper, in that way that He does. He told Ezekiel, “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh” (Ezekiel 36:26).

When God told Isaiah in chapter 43 that He would make a way, Isaiah was surrounded by enemies stronger than he was. All of his planning and strategizing couldn’t cobble together a plan in which he would make it out. But God told him to look for something new. He was going to make a way in a new way He hadn’t done before.

Are you in a situation you can’t see a path out of? On the precipice of a new journey? Or perhaps just stuck in the day-to-day monotony of routine? God is not stuck, not even a little bit. He is already working a new thing. Look for it to spring forth.

Lord, thank You for making all things—even the situations of our lives—new. Amen.