God is Leading in New and Fresh Ways

If the pandemic has taught us anything, it's that the past is over. The pandemic has killed life the way we knew it to be. The way we wanted it to be. Globally but in different ways, people are struggling with anger, fear, depression, It's not only people. Businesses are struggling to regain a footing in a new world economy. Churches are struggling. Persecution in many countries; apathy and confusion in the West.

 

Maybe your church is gone. Maybe it's changed. Those good old years from the past are just that. The past. They are nothing more than a memory now. We all have to let it all go- and let the memories take their proper place.

 

It's a tough world! Has God stopped caring about His Children? Has He stopped caring about those who don’t know Him? What is His plan? 

 

GOD’S PLAN HASN’T MOVED AN INCH!

Thankfully, God’s Word gives us hope and it directs us. 

 

Let's look at one example in the Old Testament and one in the New Testament. Let's read the book of the prophet Isaiah, verses 43:16-21. A prophet’s voice that points the way to Jesus the Messiah.

 

So reliable is the Bible, it's our go-to source for hearing God's heart and truth!

Here's a bit of background:  Isaiah’s written between 739-681 BC. A pretty big span of time. Here's what happens leading up to Chapter 43…

·   Chapters 29 and 30, Israel’s leaders reject Isaiah (8: 11-22; 29:10-12 and 30:8-9)- he seals up the scrolls with the prophesies

·   In Chapter 39- Isaiah tells King Hezekiah that the kingdom will fall to the Babylonians, and it happens!

 

Chapter 40- The prophet speaks words of hope to the people! Naturally, God is faithful to His people as they cry out to Him. What will they learn? What can we learn? God’s people are in exile in Babylon- banned from their home. They’re looking for a way out. A way back home.

 

Of course, this makes them remember the great exodus from Egypt.

You know- When God was faithful in impossible circumstances. Let me tell you- God loves "impossible circumstances! Then, when He works in the midst of them all, He and only He gets the glory and praise.

 

Let's look at Isaiah 43:16-21. It breaks down into three segments, each revealing a piece of God's heart towards the people He loves (and that includes us who follow Him): 

Isaiah 43:16-17  

¹⁶ Thus says the Lord,
    who makes a way in the sea,
    a path in the mighty waters,
¹⁷ who brings forth chariot and horse,
    army and warrior;
they lie down, they cannot rise,
    they are extinguished, quenched like a wick:

 

They need to remember the past to give them hope by remembering that our God works on our behalf! Oh, the Exodus:  God’s people in captivity in Egypt – It was a hard life! Did the people think the Egyptian gods were more powerful? They were desperate and hopeless. But God wanted to deliver His people. He used Moses, a murderer who was now tending flocks for Jethro, his father in law. He uses broken people just like us.

 

Why would He do that? God uses broken people for the same reason as He loves impossible circumstances- He gets the glory!

 

Did Moses ever remember where he came from, the life he once had, and the murder he committed? How could he not! Yet, he was eventually obedient when God wanted to use him to deliver his people out of Egypt. God uses a burning bush that never is consumed to draw Moses to Himself. God sends plagues to convince Pharoah that the Almighty is in control (The Nile turns to blood, frogs, gnats, flies, boils, hail, locusts, the plague on the firstborn (The Passover- remember placing blood on the door frame so the first born children of Israel would die, being made subject to what the Egyptians would endure do to their leader's hardened heart.) God parts the Red Sea to let his people walk through to freedom. The, He doesn't stop there to let them figure it out for themselves. God gives manna and quail to eat. He gives Moses the Ten Commandments. Things look good so far, right? Well, there's a big problem that comes next. Aaron- once a trusted leader and brother of Moses- and a man anointed to serve as a priest of God but he is frustrated with a people who constantly complain- Aaron gets the people to give them their gold and he creates a golden calf for them to worship.
 

They are a people of fickle hearts, easily led astray at times.  Just like you and me at times, right? 

What does the Isaiah say next?  Let's move on and look at verses 18-20:

¹⁸ “Remember not the former things,
    nor consider the things of old.
¹⁹ Behold, I am doing a new thing;
    now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?
I will make a way in the wilderness
    and rivers in the desert.

²⁰ The wild beasts will honor me,
    the jackals and the ostriches,
for I give water in the wilderness,
    rivers in the desert,
to give drink to my chosen people, 

 

They need to let God work in a new way and discover what He will do. The Lord is telling Jewish exiles “Remember and learn from it, but Don’t live in the past!” They are stuck in Babylon and there’s no way out. They can’t figure it out. Their plans are not clever enough. There’s not enough information available to make it work. They must trust God to make a way through the wilderness they are in. Through it- not around it! Have you ever been in that position? Maybe someone has done something that brought dire circumstances your way? Maybe, just maybe, your own sin has brought calamity you never expected. Boy, I've been there! Isn't that the human condition? Absolutely!

God's people- that includes us- can get stuck looking backwards. How? What does this look like?

  

We can expect God to work like in days of old. Like us, they began to doubt God, making the past an idol, and making it seem better than it was. Maybe they began to think they knew better than God. Their preferences become dividing points- leading to deadly results.

 

Here's a HUGE one- They can also get stuck, remembering their sin and failure.Oh, I've been there, thinking God will never use me again because I've fallen flat on my face. That's a big lie! We'll pay the consequences for our sin, we definitely will, but God is not done with us as long as we are on this earth.
 

Maybe it is fearful of the future- We are afraid to look forward. Or worse- Forgetting God is still in control and has a plan! Were God’s people believing the Babylonian gods are more powerful? Did they remember anything about how God delivered their ancestors when they were exiled in Egypt? Our memories are all too short, but one thing is certain. Man’s plans, rules, regulations, mandates, and laws are no match for God's!

 

DO WE BELIEVE GOVERNMENTS & POLITICIANS-   THE GODS OF THIS WORLD-  ARE BIGGER THAN OUR GOD? NO!
 

WILL WE LOSE HOPE? NO! 

IS OUR GOD SLEEPING?  NO! 

HE HAS PROVEN HIMSELF AGAIN AND AGAIN!

 

God has not changed even if the circumstances have!

 

What is the end result of all this?  Finally, we see in verse 21:  

the people whom I formed for myself that they might declare my praise.

The same powerful God that took them through the sea can and will take them through the wilderness this time so that we can declare our His praise.  

 

Let's look at another passage. This time, it is the words of Jesus in the New Testament.  

Let's read Matthew 9:14-15: 

14 Then the disciples of John came to him, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?” 15 And Jesus said to them, “Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.

What just happened to them to make them ask the question? Jesus called a hated and despised tax collector to come into His inner circle of disciples. A tax collector! Imagine that! Two chapters later, Jesus lumps them in with the prostitutes.

 

The people were upset and angry. Confused. Frustrated. How dare He do something like that! And it led to some important discussion.

 

First-  Jesus is not saying don’t fast. He’s not trying to repair the old ways. He’s not bowing to religious legalism or the way it has always been done. Jesus came within the context of the Old Testament prophecies to fulfill the Law but not abolish it. 

 

Pharisees preached it but didn’t live it out.

 

Look at verse 16: 

16 No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch tears away from the garment, and a worse tear is made.

 

What about the cloth- Practically, we understand the unshrunk cloth analogy.  It makes sense, but it also has spiritual significance. Spiritually, clothing/garments were symbols of righteousness. As followers of Jesus, we are clothed in His righteousness. A beautiful picture to remember when we think that God sees us AS our sin. Let's move on.

Now, take a look at verse 17. There's encouragement here, so don't stop reading.  

 

17 Neither is new wine put into old wineskins. If it is, the skins burst and the wine is spilled and the skins are destroyed. But new wine is put into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved.”

 

What about the wine? In the Old Testament, wine refers to earthly prosperity given by the Lord (Genesis 27:8; Deuteronomy. 7:13; Proverbs 3:9-10)

In the New Testament, wine refers to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Both are pretty sweet things for God to tell us. Isn't He good?

In the old days, grapes were harvested, left to sit in the sun for several days, then crushed so the juice would sit in jars or wineskins to ferment. Since this caused gasses to emit, the skins had to be flexible so the wine wouldn’t burst out.

 

 We're going to focus here for a moment. There are three commonly recognized interpretations of the scripture here, and they are all correct.

1-     Jesus Brings The New Covenant of Grace replaces Religion and Animal Sacrifice as the Way to God  (The legal truth in God's eyes)

2-     The New Wine represents the Moving of God the Holy Spirit.    (The Spiritual truth) 

3-     The Inappropriateness of Doing Something New in Old Ways.  (The Physical and the Practical application)

What can we learn here? Well, let Me Ask You a Question First-

Many churches of all sizes are closing their doors but others are opening or are growing. What could that mean?  

Could it be that in this season of difficulty, these churches and leaders have recognized the eternal truth of flexibility in the way they go about the work in God's Kingdom?

You can be sure they have learned how to rely on God and not on their own cleverness or wisdom!   

 

Look, old American methods of reaching people no longer work. 

 

Inviting people to church doesn’t work well-  We believers hardly go regularly. (And that is straight up disobedience!)

 

If you're gone from church and watching on line because it is easy and not for health restrictions or transportation issues, it’s a great time to come back in person. The enemy’s biggest plan is “Divide and Conquer”. Why help him defeat you? By watching when you can participate in person, you are missing community by watching church- and I can tell you, they are missing YOU!

 

Let's go back to flexibility. Sometimes God just wants our sacred cows placed on the altar.  

What are yours??? Think of your ministry your areas of involvement.

Is it the Name of your church? The time you meet? It could be other things where we confuse our preferences for God’s ways.Sometimes, we have to try new things- or try old things in new ways!

 

So… Back to the question- What Can We Learn?   

What happens when we embrace what God is desiring to do new things? What happens when we look for and follow the moving of His Holy Spirit?

 

We properly honor God by remembering His faithfulness to us without living in the past.  We will get excited about walking out What we say we believe once more- making Jesus known throughout the world. We will watch God be faithful first hand as we step out in obedience to His word and His leading. We see new fruit – including new relationships that will be a blessing! 

 

In the words of the great old night night advertisers- "Wait, there's more!"

 

God’s character will be revealed to us in fresh ways- increasing our love for Him and our trust in Him. We’ll be transformed even moreso into the image of Christ. Our Joy, strength, and zest for life returns as we follow Him. Depression, fear, anger, and a critical spirit will give way to peace, joy, love and all the Fruit of the Spirit! It's a pretty good trade off, I'd say!

 

God doesn’t just use us for His Glory- He also knows our work in the Kingdom strengthens us because we get to see His Hand at work in our world! This is the way things were designed- God’s work was to be a blessing to us- back to the Garden! 

 

Listen- Every time King David was obedient and went to war, he saw God’s hand at work and his faith was strengthened, resulting in praise.  It’s when he chose not to go to war that he got bored and fell into sin with Bathsheba. 

By the way- back to the Jews in exile- God was faithful to His Word. As prophesied by Isaiah, the Persians took over Babylon and their King Cyrus allowed the Jews to go home. They not only went home, they began to rebuild the temple. Something they'd wanted for years and years. God would be praised again and again!

 

So yes, let’s remember the past and thank Him- but let’s honor God by looking forward!

 

We must accept that  God wants us to be flexible for His purposes. Are you willing to once again put yourself in God’s hands and let Him lead? 

Here's a great divine truth that can be easy to believe but difficult to walk out: What God has planned for us is always better than what we can imagine or dream up on our own. 

 

I want to be where God is moving! Don't you? Give Him your life fresh to day to use as He sees fit. You won't be disappointed!

(Copyright Mark Taft.)