Eagerly Anticipating God’s NEW Things
JIM JORDAN
Rev. Jim Jordan has served as the Director of the Michigan Region since 2019. As a regional director, he is also a member of the Ministry Leadership Counsel. Prior to his current appointment, Jim ministered more than 28 years at various Missionary Churches in Indiana, Pennsylvania, and Michigan.
Here we go, ready or not, into a whole new year!
How does it look to you?
Hopefully you are eagerly looking forward to the year ahead and striding boldly forward in boundless hope and the anticipation of great things as you continue to grow spiritually and enjoy relationship with Jesus.
But that might not be you.
For some who are feeling burdened or are going through difficult times, the storm clouds and gloom may be all you can see. What has happened and still continues is so heavy on your heart that you are tempted to simply sigh and mutter, “Different year, same old stuff.”
If you focus on the continual decline and decay of the culture and society around us, you might be entering this new year without a lot of hope or enthusiasm for what lies ahead. Evil advances, and good is cursed. The days ahead may look dark and dreary. With a shake of your head, you wonder where this country is going and how this could ever turn out well.
Perhaps you are going through a dry time in your personal life or ministry. You can remember the days of comfort and plenty when your soul was filled and there was a song in your heart and a spring in your step as you sensed the smile and abiding presence of Jesus. But that is not where you are today. Now you are trudging through the endless sand hills of a spiritual desert wondering how you got there and why it has to be that way and where God is. “How long, O Lord?”
I was reading recently in the book of Isaiah and came to this beautiful passage in chapter 43 that gives good perspective and direction for walking into the year ahead.
This is what the LORD says — He who made a way through the sea, a path through the mighty waters, who drew out the chariots and horses, the army and reinforcements together, and they lay there, never to rise again, extinguished, snuffed out like a wick: “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 desert and streams in the wasteland” (Isaiah 43:16-19).
This is a GREAT passage for us to meditate on as we walk into a new year! Yes, we celebrate and are grateful for past victories, but they are neither our hope nor our focus. The God who has come through for us miraculously in past situations that were utterly hopeless and brought amazing deliverance is not just the God of THEN; He is the God of NOW.
Whether 2022 was wonderful or terrible for you personally, the year is now in the rearview mirror. Now our Lord is saying, “Lift up your heads and look forward to the new thing I am doing!” He alone knows what it will look like, but He encourages us to lean forward and be astounded as His plan unfolds.
To the burdened He says, “Don’t dwell on the past, but look at what I am doing now. I was enough back then, and I am enough to deliver you now.”
To the discouraged He says, “I am doing a NEW thing! It is right and good and powerful. Take a close look and be amazed!”
To those slogging through the trackless desert He says, “I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland. You don’t have to figure this all out by yourself. I’ve got you. Walk with me, and I will lead you.”
Christians can always be “glass half full” kind of people because of the saving grace and awesome power of our Lord Jesus at work in us and through our lives. We will bear burdens and have struggles in this life, but we do not have to trudge along with shoulders slumped and eyes downcast. We are children of the KING, covered by the blood of the LAMB, and on our way home! The road ahead may be dark; but it is not the darkness of despair because we are children of the Light, and the darkness will never overcome it!
Paul encouraged the Colossian church with these words that are also for us:
Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory (Colossians 3:1-4).
As we walk into 2023, prepare to be amazed at the awesome working of the mighty hand of God in and through your life for His glory.
Look at Him!
Look to Him for the help and deliverance that He alone can bring. See the new thing He is doing and the unfolding of His great plan to save the world. Journey on the road He creates through whatever desert you find yourself in. Dip your feet in the stream that He provides in the wasteland and be revived.
God bless you as you fix your eyes on Jesus and walk with Him!