(About a 4-minute read)
Ready to put 2023 in the rearview mirror? Looking for a fresh start? Well, God is in favor and He specializes in doing new things! Doing new things is not just a side job; it is at the very center of His nature. In fact, Isaiah 43:18-19 offers us some choice words from God on this topic.

“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.”

God originally gave these words to His ancient people. However, His people had waffled between devoted faith & detestable rebellion against God for hundreds of years. Over the generations, His people had been guilty of incest, prostitution, and most other types of sexual sin. They had sacrificed their children in the fire to false gods, perverted justice with bribes, and neglected and taken advantage of widows. Why dig all this up? I want you to know that, no matter what’s in your past, God can help you put it behind you. God can do something new.   

After all God’s people had done, God still told them, “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.” He says the same to His people today because God doesn’t change. So, as we embark on 2024, no matter what mistakes or regrets haunt you, hear God saying to you now, “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.” Leave your old life behind. Get to know…the God who does new things.

Look at how deeply He loves and how completely He forgives in Psalm 103.

   “The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love…
    He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities.
    For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His love for those who fear Him;
    As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.”

Did you catch that? The God who does new things is compassionate, gracious, slow to anger and abounding in love. In this life, when we do things wrong, He doesn’t punish us like we deserve. He does discipline us and guide us away from doing things that hurt us in the long run, but everything God does is motivated from a love so vast that we can’t get our minds totally around it. And remember all the wrong things we’ve done — relationships broken, lies told, people hurt or let down? When we’re really sorry for those and tell Him, asking His forgiveness, He removes those from us as far as the east is from the west.

Right now — envision God holding out His hands, offering you forgiveness and a fresh start. God says He IS doing a new thing in our lives, but it’s hard for us to wholeheartedly step into the new if we’re dwelling on the old. That’s why God says, “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.” The devil likes to remind us of our mess-ups to keep us from moving on. Instead of parking in the past, we need to learn from mistakes, but not live in their shadows or let them define our future. If anyone is in Christ, that person is a new creation. The old has gone. The new has come.

TRUTH: Forget the former; put away the past.

So what is God asking you to put out of your mind once and for all? Wrong choices? Bad habits? Ugly memories? The next time something from the past sneaks into your mind, fight back. Choose in that moment to forget the former; put away the past.

Throughout the Bible, we repeatedly see God doing new things. Genesis starts with God creating new things out of no things. In Revelation, God tells us “I am making everything new!” Whether we see it or not, God’s process of making things new is always going on. Isaiah 43:19 is just another example.

“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.”

We may not live in an actual desert, but there can be places in our lives that feel really dry – like a desert.
Are you in a desert in a particular relationship? Is your connection to Jesus, a spouse or a parent dry right now? Are you in a financial desert or an employment desert? Did you hear in verse 19 what God is doing? He is making a way in the desert; He is making a way through. God is the Waymaker. He can get you through any desert or wilderness to somewhere new.

God is also making streams in the wasteland. He is causing dry places to have running water. What does water do? It waters! It refreshes. It helps new seeds sprout. It brings growth and new life. So where in your life is there a wasteland? Maybe you’re feeling like you’ve wasted years on the wrong career or goal. Perhaps everything you poured into parenting seems like a wasteland as you watch your prodigal drift away. God makes streams in the wasteland. For me, personally, He brought streams of meaningful work, rich relationships, and purpose-filled living into a wasteland of chasing fame and fortune. I know He can work powerfully in your life, too.

TRUTH: The God who does new things is Waymaker & water giver.

God delights to do new things for His people. *  May I encourage you to live into that truth in 2024? Forget the former and put away the past. Draw near to the God who does new things, to the Waymaker, to the One who transforms wastelands with streams of living water. Happy New Year! Happy Year of God Doing New Things — in and for you!

* In order to be one of “God’s people,” tell Him that you’ve messed up (like we all have.) Thank Jesus (who is fully God and fully human) for coming to earth, dying on the cross to pay the penalty for your “mess-ups” (and mine), for rising from the dead and giving you the sure promise of spending eternity in Heaven with Him. Then God’s Holy Spirit will begin to guide you and start doing that “new thing” transformation.