“But forget all that—it is nothing compared to what I am going to do.” Isaiah 43:18 (NLT) |
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| Source: How To Regain a Hope-Filled Perspective | Laura Lacey Johnson | Proverbs31.org Excerpt: “Show me your last cool trick!” With this phrase, my kids knew the time had come to dry off at the swimming pool. They also knew this was their moment to show off and shine. I could always expect that the “last cool trick” from yesterday would pale in comparison to what they’d perform today. Watching my kids made me realize that sometimes I fear God has done His last cool trick in my life. Discouragement convinces me that my best days lie behind me — or that my situation is too complicated or insignificant for God to intervene and do something new. When doubt limits our belief about what God can do in the future, we risk developing the same mentality as the people to whom Isaiah prophesied. During the Babylonian captivity, the Jews lived in a foreign land with adversaries who dragged them more than 1,600 miles away from Jerusalem. Yet God gave them a message of hope because He wanted to lift their eyes beyond their current situation. Because God had something new for them! “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.” (Isaiah 43:19, NLT) We can regain a hope-filled perspective by remembering that God’s response to us remains the same today as to the ancient Israelites. God is always doing something new, and we can rest in His proven track record of faithfulness. |
