Don't Miss What God Is Doing
When I was dating, I thought God would deliver for me the way he had for my friends. I just needed to pray, ask her out, and trust the process. But when I finally met my wife, it had nothing to do with that. Instead, some friends set us up while I was living in Boston and she was in D.C. It's a script I never could have imagined, even though it has the fingerprints of God all over it. Whether God had planned for me to be married or not, I needed to learn that his plans will often surprise us.
Isaiah 43:16-21
This is what the LORD says—who makes a way in the sea, and a path through raging water, who brings out the chariot and horse, the army and the mighty one together (they lie down, they do not rise again; they are extinguished, put out like a wick)— "Do not remember the past events; pay no attention to things of old. Look, I am about to do something new; even now it is coming. Do you not see it? Indeed, I will make a way in the wilderness, rivers in the desert. Wild animals—jackals and ostriches—will honor me, because I provide water in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert, to give drink to my chosen people. The people I formed for myself will declare my praise."
Isaiah usually says to remember what God has done. But here, suddenly, God reverses course: stop remembering! First, God reminds them that he is a God who saves. After Moses led the people on dry ground through the middle of the Red Sea, Yahweh snuffed out Pharaoh's army like a candle wick. Remembering the Exodus is like celebrating Independence Day. It's how former slaves in Egypt became the God-formed nation of Israel. So, why does God want them to forget it? Because God's people had written a script for God. Waiting in exile, they were waiting for The Exodus Part II. And when God didn't deliver on their expectations, they saw him as a failure. Isaiah stuns us: At the Exodus, God turned water into dry land. But now, he'll turn dry land into water. Same God, opposite method. The Spirit blows where it will! If the people insisted on looking for a dry path through the sea, they would miss the river in the desert. We often miss the new thing God is doing because we're too busy waiting for a rerun of the old thing. God is not a DoorDash driver who delivers what we order. He is the Creator, inviting us into his story. He wants us to become the kind of people who can see a river where everyone else sees sand. Take a moment to notice what God is making new. Do you not see it?
Reflection Questions
When you imagine God "doing a new thing," what do you picture?
Is there an old way God worked in your past that you've been waiting for him to repeat?
What's one thing happening right now that feels off-script, but might be God at work?
One Thing to Try
Take a 5-minute walk. As you walk, ask God one question: "What are you doing that I'm not seeing?" Don't force an answer. Just stay open to the voice of the Holy Spirit. When you get back, talk to a friend about what came to mind, even if you're not sure what it means yet.