I am doing a new thing!
| See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland. (Isaiah43:19) |
- It had to do with the Israelites returning from exile in Babylon
- It spoke ultimately about the coming of Jesus into our world
- It speaks of the powerful working of God's Spirit in our hearts
In this Spring season we think of the new life that God gives us.
If you're up North, Autumn is preparation for the Winter time of waiting.
To some degree, Isaiah's prophecies, some 450 years before Christ, were Autumn announcements before the so-called "400 silent years" before the coming of the Spring of incarnation...
There are multiple Springs: The Spring of Incarnation, the Spring of Pentecost, the Spring of our Conversion and the potential Spiritual Spring after Spiritual Winter.
Maybe you have been in a Spiritual Winter...
Maybe you have been in the desert...
My longing hope is that our hearts will be prepared and "strangely warmed" as we journey through our devotions for the next few weeks. My prayer is that there will be a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland - A journey to rejuvenation.
This journey to rejuvenation starts with a recognition of the desert we find ourselves in. Our desert is our busy-ness, our broken-ness, our stubborn-ness, our wasteful-ness, our prideful-ness - our SIN-full-ness... And so we recognise our deep need for God.
Isaiah points out three important aspects of this Spring:
- It's a new thing. It's not a sentimental going back to the past. It will be an authentic "here and now" work in you and me.
- We can miss it. Isaiah asks: "Do you not perceive it?" The whispers of God can be subtle and gentle, we need to keep our eyes open lest we miss it.
- He will bring clarity and sustenance (a WAY in the desert and STREAMS in the wasteland.) Again, don't miss this.
