I’ve been thinking about Isaiah 43:19 lately, which says “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.” I was having a conversation with a friend recently and this Scripture came up. Looking carefully, I noticed that the first thing that God is saying is to “SEE.” Its like somehow the individuals being addressed had blinders on that somehow kept them from being able to see, or maybe they were looking in the WRONG direction. Either way, they were in the midst of something amazing and the one thing that could have kept them from experiencing it in its fullness was their own perception (or lack thereof).
One of the things that I always pray is that I am able to see the awesome things that God is doing in my life and actually SEE them. Like, not just look at them but actually be able to perceive that they are good. Human nature is to look back at circumstances or situations long after they are over and say “Man, I had it good at that job/in that relationship/in that house, etc.and just didn’t know it.” I want to experience the fullness of everything that is good in my life, while they are present.
Sometimes, our limited sight is not only where we are looking or that we are not looking but the result of our blindness from past experiences. Usually, when something new is introduced, there is a period of discomfort as we adjust to the “new” thing. And sometimes we cannot see the new thing because looking at our past (whether good or bad) is more comforting. Isn’t it crazy that we can even use pain as comfort (that’s a whoooole other blog, lol)? Then God goes on to be like,”maaaaan look, do you NOT SEE what I am doing here (paraphrased)?!” So, either we are distracted by looking in the wrong direction or we are just plainly looking backwards at past experiences which keeps us from seeing the “new” that God is doing in our lives. Either way, the problem is not that we don’t have sight and CAN’T see. The problem is that we have sight but we are CHOOSING where to look-which can often times be in the wrong direction. The important piece to being able to see what God is doing in our lives is in choosing to not allow the comfort of our past to dictate how we see our present or even our future.
Another key is that whenever God is doing something new, it is important that we do not hang on to the past things He did, even if those past things were GOOD. Not only are we to not cling to tightly to the bad things of our past, but GOOD is often the enemy of GREAT. This means that we will keep boxing God in to how He did things in the past and stunt our ability to believe Him for more because we do not like the discomfort of our faith being tested.
Whatever you may be facing today, ask God to give you the ability to SEE what He is doing. To help you to shift your gaze from what may be comfortable and familiar to be able to fully see the new things that He is doing in your life and in your circumstances.
