“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 desert and streams in the wasteland.” -Isaiah 43:18-19

Ever look back to the ‘good ole days?’ We all have great memories of great times. One of my favorite authors, Wendell Berry, laments that ‘precious things are being lost,’ and he is right. In our walk with God we also look back to His faithfulness and remember what God has done for us, and give thanks.

Yet life is always lived forward. And Isaiah the Prophet gives Israel, and gives us a challenge to stop looking back and dwelling on the past. It is time to look ahead at the new things God is going to do. Do we perceive it?

The context of this exhortation is the Exile, that time in Israel’s history when they experienced defeat and deportation at the hands of the Assyrians and then from the Babylonians. It resulted in the practical problem of losing everything – their homes, their land, often their lives. It resulted in the theological problem of making sense of God’s promises in light of their experience. Hadn’t God promised to protect Jerusalem? Wasn’t God going to protect them? In Exile there is always the potential of losing faith and losing hope. There is the possibility of despair. Isaiah is calling them to faith and to hope in God.

God points out is vs.16-17 the Exodus, God’s deliverance of Israel from Egypt, from the land of slavery. These were indeed the ‘good old days’ when God was active and powerful on their behalf. But now they are to stop looking back and are to look ahead – God is doing a new thing, and they need to see it.

The ultimate ‘new thing’ is of course the Messiah, Jesus. All OT prophecy is ultimately fulfilled in Him. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life.” (John 14:6) He came to the earth, lived a righteous life, died on the cross for our sins, rose again, ascended to heaven, and is coming again. Jesus is the first and last, the beginning and the end, always at work among us. The story of the Bible is humanity messing things up and God making it new in Christ.

In the meantime, we live in the ‘age of the Spirit,’ taking part in God’s purposes during this age. God is a God who is active, always bringing new life, doing new things – and that is true for us now. That’s just who God is - he is the one who brings beauty out of ashes. It’s always wonderful to see and hear about the new things that God is doing in people lives.

Question: Do we really believe that God is interested in blessing us? Does he really want to do something new in us and through us? I believe He does – if I didn’t I wouldn’t be a pastor, and I wouldn’t be here at North Shore Baptist.

I believe God wants to do something new in our lives. I believe God wants to do something new in our church – better, His church. Our part is to have faith and hope – to not give way to despair and lose heart. And then see what God does, as He does a new thing in our day. Do we perceive it?

-Pastor Tim, July 22, 2007