He Makes All Things New

Hello Ladies!

I hope this New Year finds each of you doing well! For me, the coming of a new year always symbolizes hope and new beginnings, a time to make a fresh start. It’s a good time for a do-over or maybe even a do-better, to make an intentional change in the way we did things in the past year or past years.

As I contemplate new beginnings, there is a verse in Isaiah that came to mind. This verse became very dear to me about 2 years ago when I was going through a rough time with someone very close to me. As I went through this situation, I would try to encourage myself by thinking, “ This will get better” and “This terrible time won’t last always” and “Surely there must be an end in sight.”

However, nothing encourages like the Word of God! The precious verse that brought me such peace was Isaiah 43:19. The New American Standard version says it like this,

Behold, I will do something new,
Now it will spring forth;
Will you not be aware of it?
I will even make a roadway in the wilderness,
Rivers in the desert.

Such delightful promises in this verse!

First, The Lord makes a definitive statement, “I will”! Whenever I see those words associated with God speaking, I know for a fact that God WILL do exactly as He says because He is so faithful and we can trust Him to act. Also if God is making something new, then we can be assured that whatever is being made over, it will be much, much better, a thousand times better!

The verse also says that it will happen “now”. Now means without delay, in the present, at the exact moment, or immediately. Yet, God’s “now” may not be the same as our “now”. He has an appointed time when we will be complete with going through whatever we are going through. He does not dwell in time as we do, so once again, we have to trust Him that He is sovereign and has a definite end to the specific trial or trials that we find ourselves in.

Next, the Lord asks a question, “Will you not be aware of it?” I am a firm believer that the Lord does not waste pain, heartache, or suffering. There is a purpose to it all; we may not be aware of God’s plan, but He is working all things for our good. We all know and can quote Romans 8:28, that God works out all things for our good, but do we really believe that? Remember, the promise of that verse can only be claimed by those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. God has a purpose. End of story. We just have to trust Him and not forget that He is faithful to His word. I hope we are seeing the fact that we cannot get around trust when it comes to believing God!

Finally, in the last two lines of this verse, I see “roadways in the wilderness” and “rivers in the desert”. A wilderness is full of thick foliage, and sometimes it is hard to see your way through; deserts are sometimes barren, dry places with very little life and vitality. What these two lines spoke to me was……The Lord can take a seemingly impenetrable and impossible situation and turn it around and bring hope out of it. Wow! Isn’t our God Awesome!

My sisters, since we’ve come through the first month of 2016, let us press on to all of the “new” things that Our Savior has for us this year. Remember, God has a plan for all of us, and HE WILL bring it to pass, because He is Faithful; and after we have come through the trials of life, HE MAKES ALL THINGS NEW.