A New Thing

Wednesday, May 3

A New Thing
By: Shane Beauvais
A new thing is a good thing.

I am a creature of comfort! Comfort food, comfortable bedding, and comfortable surroundings that meet my needs are what I prefer. I mean, who wants to be uncomfortable? Indeed, not me!

I was ordained on April 7th, 2019. On this night, as hands were laid upon me, I laid my hand upon the book of Isaiah, chapter 43, verses 18-19. Little did I know how this passage would shape me forever!

“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” (Isaiah 43:18-19).

Ever since this night, particularly within seasons of change, this passage divinely appears unexpectedly. Just this week, I realized that my seminary’s 2022-23 verse of the year read, “For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.”

Regarding comfort, the “former things” give me peace. Why? Because I know what to expect! The wrestling with the unknowns of tomorrow has passed because I have already lived into them. When it comes to comfort, tomorrow has already become my yesterday. However, as seasons change and one chapter closes to make room for another to open, I can easily cling to what I know as former things.  

I want to tell you today that “a new thing is a good thing.” However, the challenge can be convincing ourselves of this truth. The early stages of something new can be difficult, especially when the former things of comfort dismiss the fact that at one point, where we find comfort was once a “new thing.” We have just become comfortable with whatever it is.

As we journey through new seasons, do you dwell on the past, or can you see that the Lord is doing something new? In order to keep from yearning for the former things, our perception must shift, and greater focus should be placed on where God is calling you to journey through next.

The wilderness is where God’s grace and provision are experienced divinely! The wilderness is an intense experience where God makes a way! He is doing a new thing! Do you not perceive it?

“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” (Isaiah 43:18-19).

Ever since this night, particularly within seasons of change, this passage divinely appears unexpectedly. Just this week, I realized that my seminary’s 2022-23 verse of the year read, “For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.”

Regarding comfort, the “former things” give me peace. Why? Because I know what to expect! The wrestling with the unknowns of tomorrow has passed because I have already lived into them. When it comes to comfort, tomorrow has already become my yesterday. However, as seasons change and one chapter closes to make room for another to open, I can easily cling to what I know as former things.  

I want to tell you today that “a new thing is a good thing.” However, the challenge can be convincing ourselves of this truth. The early stages of something new can be difficult, especially when the former things of comfort dismiss the fact that at one point, where we find comfort was once a “new thing.” We have just become comfortable with whatever it is.

As we journey through new seasons, do you dwell on the past, or can you see that the Lord is doing something new? In order to keep from yearning for the former things, our perception must shift, and greater focus should be placed on where God is calling you to journey through next.

The wilderness is where God’s grace and provision are experienced divinely! The wilderness is an intense experience where God makes a way! He is doing a new thing! Do you not perceive it?