Israel had every reason to be afraid. Exiled to Babylon, the future looked bleak; freedom an impossible idea.
Yet throughout Isaiah 43, God repeatedly exhorts them to 'fear not', as He reminds them that no matter what they find themselves walking through--whether floods, rivers or fires--that He is still with them and they are still His beloved. And just as He made a way for them in the past, leading them out of bondage in Egypt, He will make a way for them now.
But 'the way' won't look how it did back then. So while they must continue to recall what He has already done--allowing His past faithfulness to fuel an expectation for their present circumstances--they must also 'forget the former things' in order to behold the new things God is doing for them.
It can be easy to box God in, reducing how He works and what He is doing to a formula based on our past experiences. The old feels familiar and comforting. But God wants us to be a people who recognise what He is doing now; who are open to new possibilities. So He asks us: Do you perceive it?
Perceiving is more than simply seeing--it is to know by experience. This is the deeper invitation of God: to perceive and to therefore know Him through His works. When we open our eyes to see God's provision in the wastelands of our lives, more than simply seeing His activity, we see Him.
The One who made a way still makes a way forward for us today. The question is, will we perceive it? Will we open our hearts and hands to receive the new thing He wants to do? May perceiving enable you to praise Him afresh today.
“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.
The wild animals honour me,
the jackals and the owls,
because I provide water in the wilderness
and streams in the wasteland,
to give drink to my people, my chosen,
the people I formed for myself
that they may proclaim my praise."
(Isaiah 43:18-21, NIV)
P.S. Yesterday, I had the privilege of giving this message, Placing the Pieces: The Tension of the Old and New. If you're wrestling with how to step into the new things God has for you, I pray it encourages you.