Isaiah 43:18-19 Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. (As this New Year unfolds before us, the Lord reminds us not to brood over the failures and hardships of the past, but to look toward the new, forgetting what lies behind and pressing on to what lies ahead.) See, I am doing a new thing! (The "new" before us is best seen as we behold with admiration and awe the mighty work of God in our lives today, as we contemplate Him and His preparation and provision for us to step out into the new He holds for us.) Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? (While this new thing the Lord brings about through His unlimited power, silently and inexorably opening forth and blooming into fullness, we can only stand in awe as we focus our full attention on what the Lord promises for us.) I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland. (Whatever our past has created for this present, whatever actions have brought us into the wilderness today, just as the Lord provided for the Israelites as they traveled through their difficult wilderness journey, God also paves a road for us through the wilderness areas of our life and carves out rushing rivers of water in the desert places to guide us and sustain us and feed us and refresh us and to lead us into His never-failing purposes for us with His complete provision for today!)
