The Lord had laid this passage on my heart at the beginning of Summer and if I were to tell you about the many times I came across this passage or the amount of times people sent me these verses or pointed them out to me, you could join me in the realization that it’s pretty clear that He wanted me to hear this before I leave for these 9 months. He gave this to me right before I decided to go on the race and this verse has been my reality throughout the process since I announced that I was going on this trip. I pray that you would enjoy this small word and that God might speak to you through this like He did with me. Enjoy!!
BEHOLD
This Summer has been a journey. A long and pressing, yet fulfilling, journey. God has done miracle after miracle and work after work. But when it comes to the works and miracles of God in our lives, God has something interesting to say about what He’s done in Isaiah.
16 Thus says the Lord,
who makes a way in the sea, a path in the mighty waters,
17 who brings forth chariot and horse, army and warrior; they lie down, they cannot rise, they are extinguished, quenched like a wick:
18 “Forget the former things, nor consider the things of old.
19 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.”
Behold
The next word God spoke was Behold. I’m sure Isaiah gave some silence before he went on after this word because in the Hebrew, this word carries a heavy weight. The translated definition comes with a power behind it meaning to “stand in awe and be amazed.” Behold, He says. And then a few moments later the next part comes as the suspense in the Israelites hearts continues to build.
I am doing a new thing
Then Isaiah continues and the first thing God tells the body of people… “I am doing a new thing” The Israelites were so fixed and consumed on what God had done that they were missing and forgetting that God was currently at work. Doing a NEW thing. He wasn’t doing this how they expected. He was doing this in a new way that they had not seen before so He was telling them to not consider the old things so they could look closely and see that He was indeed doing something new when they needed it. God’s new work was in progress. But the Israelites didn’t recognize it because they were looking for God to do something of the sort that He had done before.
now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?
God now has the peoples attention as a smile begins to crack on their faces. He speaks that now it springs forth. The phrase “springs forth” in the Hebrew means to begin to come to fruition, meaning that now the Israelites are becoming aware of what’s going on as He speaks this. They realize it; they have an A-ha moment. Then, God says “do you not perceive it?” and yet the english definition for perceive means to become aware of, thats not the case here. The original language for the word perceive means “to seek; to ask about.” Why did the Israelites not scramble about asking and talking about what God was doing that was new? Because they were busy talking about things of old. They now realize He’s doing something new. This message came to the Israelites in a time of need because they were focused on how God had delivered them before and they slowly began to forget this and just be wandering in the desert seeking water and through the wilderness seemingly lost, some considering that the slavery was even better. Then God gives them this hope-filled message that He is doing something new! He brings it to their attention and they finally realize it.
I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.”
This is the part that shook the Israelites. In a time where they were seemingly wandering through the desert lost and came upon the wilderness beginning to thirst, God let’s them know that He will make a way through the wilderness that confronts them and rivers in the desert so that they may have water. This message was huge to the Israelites. God was knocking on their door saying “hey wake up and realize that I’m doing something new in a way that you don’t expect. The very thing God had used to extinguish their enemies, was now the thing that God was doing to use to help them. God had first made a way through the sea, but now God was going to make a way through the wilderness. God was doing a new thing with something that was seemingly old. God was doing a new thing in a way that was seemingly old but it was a new way. Yet the Israelites did not perceive it because they were focused on what God had done in the past. But now they realized it. They had hope. God let them know something in the midst of another trial. “I am doing a new thing.”
I feel like this message is very much applicable to our lives today. Oftentimes we rely on God to deliver us through ways of old or to just take away the trial that we’re facing because we think it’s what’s best for us. Yet, God is doing a new thing with our trial. He is the one that knows what’s best for us, not us. And so in this time of trial, He is using our trials to bring us closer to Him as He does a new thing in our lives with the trial that lays ahead. If we were to say this message wasn’t for us, wouldn’t we be deceiving ourselves? That’d be like saying that our lives are perfect and everything is going amazing and not a single thing could be better; meaning we have nothing but thankfulness to pray for. We all have prayer requests. What are you praying for today? Stand in confidence today knowing that whatever you’re praying for for yourself, a family member, a friend, whoever, that God is doing a new thing. Always how we least expect it, at that. We have this perspective that the trial we currently face in our life right now is our biggest struggle, yet God sees this trial as our biggest future strength. I feel like what I’ve learned is that we see our biggest trial but God sees our biggest teaching moment. I can say for a fact that God has taught me the most when I’ve been in trials. So for that reason, I can thank God for trials.
Sometimes when found in trial we tend to lose trust and take control, myself included. What we’re implying or don’t realize that we’re implying is that were attempting to take control with the hopes that we could fix the situation better than God could. Yet, today we can relinquish control because we know that whatever we’re facing in life or whatever the good God has done in our life, God is doing a new thing.
AND SO this is the message that I’m taking into the world race from God’s Word. That I’ve seen Him work miracle after miracle and done work after work since the day that I announced I was going on the world race. Yet I will not fix my eyes or constantly wrap myself in these works or miracles because I know one thing, God is doing a new thing. And I will never lose the awestruck feeling I have because of this fact. There’s a reason that God used the word Behold. Behold that God is good, but..
Behold, He only gets better..
