Hope Emerging
"See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making ways in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland." Isaiah 43:19
The fires here in California and throughout the region have been devastating and the destruction immense. The other day, as my family and I were driving through the San Jose area, I saw some fields that had been burned. What caught my eye, though, were tiny green patches emerging through the once scorched ground. I was reminded of how God brings beauty out of ashes and gives hope when all hope seems lost.
Grief and loss have been the topic of multiple conversations lately. Almost everyone has experienced some sense of loss or grief this year – loss of community and routine, travel restrictions, lack of private time, job, school, and worship changes, as well as material and physical lives lost from storms, fires and illness. Yet I have seen how God has begun a "new thing" among some of our churches. Some have tried things they have never done before – virtual studies, drive-in or drive-on church services, learning of new skills, digging deeper in the Word, new relationships once limited by distance now made possible through technology, new hunger for His Word, etc. God is "making ways" to reach unreached people groups, build community, and restore those who have strayed.
As we discussed in last month's blog, sometimes God wants us to "unlearn" and "throw off" old ways and old habits. In their place, He brings "new things," growth where there was once devastation, hope where there was once despair, new vision, and new dreams, new friendships, and insights.
“sometimes God wants us to “unlearn” and “throw off” old ways and old habits. In their place, He brings “new things,” growth where there was once devastation, hope where there was once despair, new vision, and new dreams, new friendships, and insights.”
There is so much to grieve our hearts in the world today, and we desperately pray for repentance and revival. As we seek His face, I pray we will also see the "new things" He is doing around us and seek to join Him there. Our life story is not yet over, and God is still in the miracle business. What "new thing" is God doing in your community, in your life, in your ministry? Where is He "making ways in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland?" Chin up, my dear sisters, God is still at work – seeds of growth and good change are emerging!
"You can't go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending." ― C.S. Lewis.
Cathie Smith is the Ministry Wives Coordinator for GCA. She is a ministry wife, mother of three, and enjoys Earl Grey tea, yellow daisies, all things chocolate, and talking with friends. One of her greatest passions is helping women to grow in Christ and become life-long disciple-makers.