The previous years had been tough for most of us in countless ways. Sudden catastrophes have come, people have died too young, marriages have broken down, children have struggled, jobs have been lost, and relationships have been messed up. These things are like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, without these fits life may be incomplete. No matter how worst our situation may have been, the Lord is telling us through the prophet Isaiah…
“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.”
This is just a clear direction, an order which we should obey as soon as we received it. However, forgetting is hard for we were created with the capability of not forgetting things which we call ‘memory’. But of course, who would want to use his memory which is but filled only with angst, contempt, and grudge?
Also, this might sound like a desirable invitation from the Lord for it was given with a bunch of promises! Yes, an assurance from the Lord.
“See, I am doing a new thing!
Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?”
Literally, new means getting a new look. New means new life. Definitely, the Lord has been telling us all this time that He is already in the process of making a NEW thing in your life! Something that has come into being, something that has been made- or something that you already have but haven’t discovered yet or something that you haven’t seen before. It is something unique, handcrafted only for you. Have you not perceived it? Or do you see it coming?
“I am making a way in the wilderness
and streams in the wasteland.”
Making a way out in the middle of nowhere? But how in the wilderness? Wow! Just imagine after the exhausting days and nights in the middle of the Antarctic Polar desert, you’ll see an oasis! Again, try to imagine a stream of freshwater in a 13 hectare garbage dumpsite like Payatas. Would you drink it? Would you dare to touch it? That would be the streams in the wasteland! But the Lord is serious when He said it. He is going to make a way in the desert and streams in the badlands. He is in the process of renewing things, making them beautiful and useful; refining and purifying everything.
Our circumstances in life might be a wilderness and our life might be the wasteland, therefore, the Lord reminds us that we should take a long stare on who He is in what He is doing, and that we should be attentive so we can see the new thing that is springing up. We were challenged with so many things life is throwing at us, these things that left us bruised yet made us more invincible; changed us into who we are today, and brought us where we are at this point of time. Now, brace yourself for a glorious thing that will happen for the next days for it will definitely blow you up!
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11