Isaiah 43:18-19 – 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. (NIV 2011)

Last summer, I was in the hospital suffering from very high blood pressure, when the doctor tried something new on me. He put the pill aside and just gave me the liquid medicine to drink. It worked. The Lord had done a new thing and I had my life back again. I was allergic to the other things that they used to make up the pills. "A new thing, Iris" — and it saved my life. Thank You, Lord!

Are you feeling tired and fed up today, wishing that your days could be brightened by something new and different? Look what God is saying to you in today's Scripture: Forget what is past, especially those things that didn't please you. You are tired and fed up with trying. Don't dwell on the past. All the past does is tire and deflate us, and we are not satisfied with our lives. What can we do about it?

If we are growing old and past retirement, even past "old age", much of what we feel is normal aging, but the Lord still promises us a new thing that He is doing. Wow, that is exciting! Just thinking about the possibilities gives me the shivers.

Yes, the Lord is "making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland". Can you and I not perceive it? Maybe we are not close enough to the Lord for His activity in our lives to show up. Perhaps we are in the wasteland in some way? What might we be wasting: our time, our health, our money? Are we ignoring our neighbour's needs, or failing to follow through on a promise? And yet God speaks to us in the Scriptures, through Jesus, and through the Holy Spirit, Who is always seeking to lead us beyond our daily wasteland.

I wonder where He is leading us today. As we follow the Lord, we may be sure that our days will contain the needed direction. All we must do is to keep praying and trusting Him as the streams flow past wasted days, for the Lord promises a new way.

Indeed, He is showing you and me how to be happy serving Him in whatever way is needed. For sure, it will be along a road that we had at first ignored, but now His light reveals the way to the new thing, the God-worked thing. We just need to trust Him and follow His leading. Wow, how wonderful!

What new thing are you expecting God to do in your life today?

Prayer: Lord, show us the way to follow Your will as we live through each day. We thank You for giving our lives a great joy with new and lively things to do. Your power brings about a new thing, changing what we do with eternal light and love. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen.

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