Growing in the Desert

It's the end of August and I have not posted a blog entry all summer! It's time to get back into a schedule of some sort. Vacations, summer schedules, and a general desire to be outside instead of in front of a computer, I must admit, have kept me away. I've missed writing and putting words and thoughts in black and white, so here I am, back plucking away at the keyboard. Here are a few thoughts to get back into the swing of things...

18Do not [earnestly] remember the former things; neither consider the things of old. 19Behold, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs forth; do you not perceive and know it and will you not give heed to it? I will even make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. - Isaiah 43:18-19

Have you ever felt like you've been doing the same thing forever, with no change in sight? Do you have dreams that you desire to see come to life, but they seem more distant than ever?

In worship this past Sunday night we were singing a song by John Mark McMillan called 'How He Loves Us' when one of the lines really hit home.

"All of a sudden, I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory, and I realize just how beautiful You are and how great Your affections are for me. Oh, how He loves us..."

That is the thing that gets me through. Remembering how God loves me. Spending time in His presence brings light to our issues, hope in our darkness, water in our dry place. Spending time in God's presence allows Him to speak to us about the things He is doing. He is always working on our behalf. He is always moving to make our path straight. As we follow, as we allow ourselves to be formed into His image, even when we don't feel like things are changing, we can rely on His word that they are. We can rely on His word that He is doing a new thing.

There is going to come a time that we are going to realize that something has changed. Sometimes it's a suddenly. Sometimes we just suddenly realize that things are different. So that's where I am right now, trusting, hoping, waiting to see that new thing springing forth. Promises becoming reality. It's not easy to not look back, to not remember the way things have been. It's not easy to keep looking forward. But giving into fear is not an option. Looking forward to what God is doing, lining every area of our lives with hope. That's where I choose to be. That's the direction I'm growing.