New!

New!

Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert. Isaiah 43:19 KJV

There was a time that Israel had to suffer for their rebellion against God. They had eaten and become full, and they thought they could do the rest on their own. Of course, God gave them over to their enemies, particularly the Babylonians, who oppressed them for so many years. It is a clear principle by God that unconfessed sin brings punishment. If I persist in sin, I can only expect the natural consequences, which is death.

However, God promises a new thing, a new beginning, a fresh start. As I read the verses  before today's extract, I am reminded of the mercy and grace of God. I am reminded again that I stand where I am because of God's unconditional love, not because of anything I have done to deserve the good. All I read here is an outflow of God's mercy, where he decides on the timing, value, direction and impact of whatever is within his power and might to do.

If God were to do the usual, maybe it won't catch our attention, but here He's promising to do the unexpected. The wilderness is seen as barren land, where no one wants to go. The desert is seen as a dry land, where survival is minimal, yet God seems to be promising something uniquely different from all we have come to know and expect. The greatest obstacle to faith is the usual and the regular, but God is saying here: 'I will blow your mind by doing what nobody expects'. And if it is God at work, you can bet He knows what He's doing.

Is there any situation you have taken to Him that seems lost? Trust His eternal power, might, authority, dominion and victory over everything. He's God. Simple, yet profound, and all of creation, seen and unseen, answers to Him. His time of favour is here.