BRAND NEW

“Be alert, be present. I’m about to do something brand-new. It’s bursting out! Don’t you see it? There it is! I’m making a road through the desert, rivers in the badlands.” Isaiah 43:19

Don’t you see it?

Not right now I don’t.

That’s why this promise is so important. We can’t always see or understand what God is doing. But this is truth that we can absolutely hold on to whether we are in the desert or in the badlands or somewhere in between.

The desert? Are you empty?

Are you the one who works and works and never feels complete?

Are you the one who gives and gives doesn’t get noticed?

Are you the one who prays and prays and hasn’t received an answer yet?

The badlands? Are you struggling?

Are you my friend who is scared, lonely, drowning in depression?

Are you my friend whose family is falling apart?

Are you my friend who is overwhelmed with too many demands and not enough time?

These places are not foreign to God. He knows the desert and he knows the badlands. He knows exactly where we are, and he knows how to lead us through and lead us out. And he longs to refresh us–to give us hope for something different, something brand-new.

Let’s look at Isaiah 43:16-18 in the New Living Translation:

“I am the Lord, who opened a way through the waters, making a dry path through the sea. I called forth the mighty army of Egypt with all its chariots and horses. I drew them beneath the waves, and they drowned…

But forget all that–it is nothing compared to what I am going to do.”

God’s people wandering in the wilderness had no idea that what God was going to do next was send us Jesus.

And nothing compares to what he did for us on Easter weekend.

So, we can look ahead: What is God working on? What good is he bringing on the other side of this?

And we can look behind: How has God come through for me before? What answers, what comfort, what growth has God already given me?

Then, because of the life and death and resurrection of Jesus, we can look ahead with brand-new hope! Our faithful, creative, miracle-working, love-filled God will make a way for us.

Stand firm: Ask him to meet you where you are right this moment. He will meet you in the desert or in the badlands, and he will lead you out. Trust him to make a way even when you don’t see one yet. He is always doing something brand-new.