A New Thing

Just as Isaiah’s words were powerful during Bible days….they still speak to us today. They speak to our very lives. There is a message for us to hear. Will we hear it? Will we become the people God has called and equipped us to be? Or, will we let the cares of this world keep us from allowing God to do a “new thing?”

Isaiah 42:5-9; 18-25

⁵ This is what God the LORD says—
he who created the heavens and stretched them out,
who spread out the earth and all that comes out of it,
who gives breath to its people,
and life to those who walk on it:

⁶ "I, the LORD, have called you in righteousness;
I will take hold of your hand.
I will keep you and will make you
to be a covenant for the people
and a light for the Gentiles,

⁷ to open eyes that are blind,
to free captives from prison
and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness.

⁸ "I am the LORD; that is my name!
I will not give my glory to another
or my praise to idols.

⁹ See, the former things have taken place,
and new things I declare;
before they spring into being
I announce them to you."

¹⁸ "Hear, you deaf;
look, you blind, and see!

¹⁹ Who is blind but my servant,
and deaf like the messenger I send?
Who is blind like the one committed to me,
blind like the servant of the LORD ?

²⁰ You have seen many things, but have paid no attention;
your ears are open, but you hear nothing."

²¹ It pleased the LORD
for the sake of his righteousness
to make his law great and glorious.

²² But this is a people plundered and looted,
all of them trapped in pits
or hidden away in prisons.
They have become plunder,
with no one to rescue them;
they have been made loot,
with no one to say, "Send them back."

²³ Which of you will listen to this
or pay close attention in time to come?

²⁴ Who handed Jacob over to become loot,
and Israel to the plunderers?
Was it not the LORD,
against whom we have sinned?
For they would not follow his ways;
they did not obey his law.

²⁵ So he poured out on them his burning anger,
the violence of war.
It enveloped them in flames, yet they did not understand;
it consumed them, but they did not take it to heart.

God is calling us to righteousness. He has made a covenant with us. We are His people. We are to be His vessels in bringing sight to the blind, freeing the captives, and releasing light into the darkness. But, we have begun to worship idols. We have become deaf and blind and have not paid attention to Him. We no longer listen to the Holy Spirit when He speaks to us. We’ve been looted and plundered by the enemy of our souls. We’ve become imprisoned by our own sins. We’ve turned from God and He will not come to our aid. He’s allowing us to become consumed by our own sin.

Isaiah 43:1-13

¹ But now, this is what the LORD says—
he who created you, O Jacob,
he who formed you, O Israel:
"Fear not, for I have redeemed you;
I have summoned you by name; you are mine.

² When you pass through the waters,
I will be with you;
and when you pass through the rivers,
they will not sweep over you.
When you walk through the fire,
you will not be burned;
the flames will not set you ablaze.

³ For I am the LORD, your God,
the Holy One of Israel, your Savior;
I give Egypt for your ransom,
Cush and Seba in your stead.

⁴ Since you are precious and honored in my sight,
and because I love you,
I will give men in exchange for you,
and people in exchange for your life.

⁵ Do not be afraid, for I am with you;
I will bring your children from the east
and gather you from the west.

⁶ I will say to the north, 'Give them up!'
and to the south, 'Do not hold them back.'
Bring my sons from afar
and my daughters from the ends of the earth-

⁷ everyone who is called by my name,
whom I created for my glory,
whom I formed and made."

⁸ Lead out those who have eyes but are blind,
who have ears but are deaf.

⁹ All the nations gather together
and the peoples assemble.
Which of them foretold this
and proclaimed to us the former things?
Let them bring in their witnesses to prove they were right,
so that others may hear and say, "It is true."

¹⁰ "You are my witnesses," declares the LORD,
"and my servant whom I have chosen,
so that you may know and believe me
and understand that I am he.
Before me no god was formed,
nor will there be one after me.

¹¹ I, even I, am the LORD,
and apart from me there is no savior.

¹² I have revealed and saved and proclaimed—
I, and not some foreign god among you.
You are my witnesses," declares the LORD, "that I am God.

¹³ Yes, and from ancient days I am he.
No one can deliver out of my hand.
When I act, who can reverse it?"

Yet always……He’s waiting for us to turn back to Him. Now…He says He will redeem us. He will call us by name once again. He will walk with us through the waters, the fire….whatever we may come up against in this life. We must open our eyes. We must hear the Holy Spirit when He speaks to us. We must go to the 4 corners of the earth to find those who’ve become consumed by their own sin and show them the way back to Him. We must declare that He is the one true God. There is none, but Him. We cannot lose that focus.

Isaiah 43:18-19

¹⁸ "Forget the former things;
do not dwell on the past.

¹⁹ 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.

His one desire is for us to look to Him for restoration. Restoration means to restore or bring back to a former or original condition. In Scripture, when something is restored it is always increased, multiplied or improved so that the latter state is considerably better than the former (consider Job).

Are you at a place where you need restoration? Will you seek the abundant life that God wants you to live? Let go of your past. Give it to the only One who can forgive and call you to repentance. Ask Him to deliver you from whatever holds you back; makes you blind or deaf. He says that He is doing a new thing. He’s making a way. We need to be expectant…waiting for Him to do it. We need to expect this “new thing” to be utterly amazing. That is how He operates; in new and different ways, yet His character never changes. He stays the same. Hallelujah! Join me in asking God to do a “new thing.” Let's make this a reality.

How?
1. Cleanse ourselves, repent & mourn(1 John 1:9, Matthew 4:17, Matthew 5:4, Lam.3:22-23)
2. Let the Refiner's Fire remove the dross (Malachi 3:2-3)

3. Trade our mourning for the oil of joy and put on a garment of praise(Jeremiah 31:13,Isaiah 61:3)

4. Wait for God to do the new thing!(Is. 42:9, Is. 43:19, Is. 48:6, Is. 62:2)

HE WILL!