All Things New
"Remember not the former things, nor consider
the things of old. Behold I am doing a new
thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive
it? I will make a way in the wilderness
and rivers in the desert."
Isaiah 43:18-19 (esv)
All things new.
Keep my eyes forward and not on what has been.
Do not let yourself be swallowed in the pains of yesterday and look towards what is to come.
He will make a way in the season of wilderness and He will be the living water in the desert.
For days, He has rested this blog on my heart. For days I have resisted. These two simple verses. I read them and four simple sentences spring from my heart. There is no confusion in these verses of truth. There is no misunderstanding. My spirit knows what He is saying but it is the human nature of my heart that causes me the struggle of it all.
The pains of yesterday, of an hour ago, of a minute ago He says to look forward and not dwell in those former, but my emotions can be weak and the consequences of those pains can be so lasting. The words and actions of others can cut so deep and because of the fall, the cuts can heal oh so slow and be ripped right back open in an instant. Looking forward becomes foggy and slipping into pain becomes so easy. Before I know it, I have walked myself into a desert and I become so blinded by suffering I miss the living water right next to me.
That is just the truth of my own life sometimes. It isn't lack of time with Jesus. It isn't lack of time in prayer and in His Truth. It is my own human weakness and sometimes it is a season He has asked me to walk through so that I can shed more of that human nature and be created more into His image. And yes, sometimes I think the pain of that season is just too much. It is true. I am just on my knees, sobbing because the suffering, the hurt...and dare I admit I ask "why?". But as I pour out, He makes Himself known and asks me to trust His plan even when I don't understand and how can I not trust the One who has done so much for me. Who died to give me life. Who loves me with an unconditional love. Who never leaves me or forsakes me even when I have ran from Him.
I am teetering on the edge of two separate seasons and it is not in my hands which one will be bought forth. It is in the hands of others choices and the consequences they may bring forth or the victories those choices will behold. A season of newness or a season of wilderness. As I stand in between the two, praying that He will bring forth choices of victories and not choices of consequences I am desperately holding back the lie that if I took control it will go the way I want it too. The enemy works hard, but the enemy will have no victory in that lie because I refuse to take control of something that I know He has to be in control of.
So I will teeter until the season is laid out before me and no matter which one it is, I will walk into it.
See, even if it is the wilderness, the newness will come. He will sustain me. He will carry me. He will pour out HIs truth and I may spend many days pouring out my pain, BUT GOD. He has brought me out of the wilderness so many times before and I have been better for it...but this time it is not just about me. When I walk out of the wilderness and step into His glorious light I will rejoice in the lessons learned, the growth that came and I will look forward.
If it is a season of newness I will joyfully embrace it, give it all I have and be thankful for all the victories that come and anticipate all that He has next.
His timing. His control. His plan.
All. Things. New.
