God is Still Doing a New Thing

There are years that go by in a blink and you don’t remember much of them, just that they happened and that you’re ready to move on to the next grade, the next age, the next thing that might be interesting or exciting.

Then there are years that are significant, momentous, full—in every sense of the word. You may not realize it as the months tick by, you might only see it in retrospect. But when you finally see it, you know it.

I wonder—could 2020 be one of those years? Even with all the loss and disappointment, all the unprecedented and unexpected events, all the ways in which people have been wrung out and laid bare?

Somehow, I think it might be.

The following scripture is framed and hanging in my stairwell.

This is what the Lord says—he who made a way through the sea, a path through the mighty waters, who drew out the chariots and horses, the army and reinforcements together, and they lay there, never to rise again, extinguished, snuffed out like a wick:

“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland. 

“The wild animals honor me, the jackals and the owls, because I provide water in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland, to give drink to my people, my chosen, the people I formed for myself that they may proclaim my praise.” ~ Isaiah 43:16-21 (NIV)

I first discovered this passage about 17 years ago. Randy had just found out he was going to lose his job. We were living in a rental and in the process of building our own home—not exactly the best time to become unemployed.

I read where God says He is doing a new thing and latched on to it.

In the midst of my worries and fears about the future, I hung my hopes on my misguided (or perhaps simply immature) belief that whatever was about to happen was part of God’s “new thing,” which (in my mind, anyway) was synonymous with His plan to bless our family and bring us out into a spacious place where everything we had experienced until then would finally make sense.

So, about all of that.

God did provide Randy with another job, and then a few years later, we moved from Arkansas to Kansas so he could take a different position. Along the way, almost everything about my life changed. Much of it was good, but there was also plenty of struggle—and not just for me.

Through all the transitions and unexpected developments, I kept asking the same question. “Is this the new thing? Is this the new thing? Is this the new thing?”

What I didn’t realize, of course, is that our Creator God is always doing a new thing. Very often, He isn’t just doing a new thing, He’s doing it in a new way.

God’s ways are not our ways—the Bible makes this clear. We’re made in His image, but we don’t think like Him. We can’t, because He is God and we are not. So when He does new things, we don’t always see them for what they are. We don’t always recognize that it’s Him at work, and not simply the nefarious forces of evil.

Because of God’s divine providence, no matter what happens on this sad old planet of ours, He’s either behind it, or He’s using it. I don’t understand this. But when the scriptures say, “In all things God works for the good of those who love him,” my desire is to believe it. (Romans 8:28)

While our definition of “good” often doesn’t match up with God’s, “all things” means just that—every last thing. Not just what we can figure out or think we understand or fit into our narrative of how we want the world to be.

All things.

Even in 2020.

Even now.

At this point in my life, I’m trying not to attach too much of my own meaning to any one event or occurrence. I take comfort in remembering that, while there is much to be troubled about in our country today—and perhaps in our individual lives as well—our sovereign God is not surprised by any of it.

His plans—formed long ago—are being performed with perfect faithfulness. (Isaiah 25:1) He is still doing a new thing. And while it might make us nervous or uncomfortable, we can trust that in the end, it will be for our good.

So, as we look back on 2020 and ahead to the rest of 2021, let’s keep our eyes peeled for God’s hand at work and try not to lose heart. “Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.” (2 Corinthians 4:16-17)

♥ Lois

P.S. I’m linking up this week with #tellhisstory, InstaEncouragements, Recharge Wednesday, Let’s Have Coffee, Inspire Me Monday, #HeartEncouragement and Grace & Truth.