Now For Something New

Now For Something New looks at this crazy pandemic world in a whole new light.

So much is different today that it boggles the brain. How we work (or if we can work), how we play, how we educate, how we recreate, how we communicate, the list goes on and on. It’s hard and frustrating to handle this landslide of unwanted change. “Where does it end”, we ask ourselves, “What does it look like on the other side of this pandemic?”

That’s what staring at a problem looks like. An all consuming focus on how things used to be; how we long for them to be again. But what if we pull back from our viewpoint and shift our eyes toward what is new? What is God doing in this pandemic that is creating a new pathway in the wilderness? Where might there be new rivers flowing into dry wastelands?

This perspective opens my eyes to many new things worth celebrating. Here are just a few:

Families are talking, playing and eating meals together like never before
People have left their screens and are walking more
Nature is being appreciated for the God-given gift that it is
Attendance at my church’s weekly services are up along with participation in new daily devotionals enabled by on-line access
Even my occasionally quarrelsome grandson’s are enjoying each other’s company more!

God’s New Thing

In Isaiah 43 God acknowledges the plight of the Israelites, His chosen people. He knows their troubles but does not leave them to fend for themselves.

Instead of leaving them in captivity God restores them to Himself. Even though they strayed from God and sinned, He protected them and redeemed them.

We are also God’s chosen people. Yet like the Israelites, we will encounter rivers of difficulty and fires of oppression. This pandemic is one such time. The question is how will we respond to this experience? It can either cause us to drown, or to grow stronger. Drowning comes when we rely on our own strength. When we think about our own needs versus the greater good. When we sow divisiveness and unrest.

What Is Your New Thing?

Growing stronger happens when we rely on God’s strength. When we humbly and patiently wait on His timing. When we pause to consider what is bothering us the most about all of this change. Perhaps those issues are the new things God is trying to do in us?

“For I am about to do something new. See I have already begun. Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.” Isaiah 43:19

Personally, God is working on patience, surrendering to His control and trusting in His goodness regardless of my circumstances. Do any of these resonate for you? Perhaps there’s more happening during this pandemic than we thought.

God, help us see the new thing you are doing in our lives in the midst of these trying times. Increase our patience and trust in your faithfulness. Thank you for rescuing and redeeming us Jesus. Let us not waste this time of redemption by staying the same. Through your living Spirit, transform us to become more like you. Amen.

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