Women’s Connect December Devotional
Take some time to enjoy this encouraging devotional written by Kerrie Rosheim. This is such an amazing reminder of who our Jesus is and where we can set our gaze during this Advent season. Be blessed, dear sisters!
Love,
Rachel Greene
New Thing or Old Things?
Isaiah 43:19 “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.”
New thing or old things? The Christmas season is one where we find a great amount of comfort in the old things, in the way things have always been- tradition. We like the same Christmas carols on the radio, plan the same menu for Christmas Eve dinner, use the same decorations around the house, and have a list of some of our favorite activities and outings to complete during the season.
There’s a lot of comfort and security in traditions.
But what about when God is doing a new thing? What if He is making us lay aside the “old” for His new?
New things can be exciting, especially if we’ve been hoping or praying for them. But, many times new things come in packages we don’t ever want to even open. Maybe you’ve been given a “new thing” this season that you’d rather not have… a broken relationship or marriage… an emptiness around your table and in your heart… a long-term illness… rejection… debilitating depression… despair in unanswered prayer.
Isaiah 43:19 was written to a group of people just like you, hurting and needing hope. These Israelites had witnessed complete devastation in their lives- the starving siege and conquer of Jerusalem, the destruction of the temple, and the loss of all they had and in which they hoped. God sent this message to His people suffering under Babylonian captivity, people who understood living in the wilderness. God is promising a greater hope to come, His life-giving way in the midst of nothingness.
Fast forward four hundred years. The Israelites are again oppressed and suffering under a foreign nation, the Romans. But this time God is silent; there is no new message of hope. God is distant, to be feared amid the heavy burden religious tradition and teachers of the law place upon the people. A man distinguished by his waiting upon the Lord takes an eight-day-old child in his arms and declares, “For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all people, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel (Luke 2:30-32).” Jesus, the Messiah, Son of the Most High God, enters into the brokenness of humanity, just as He had promised.
Sometimes God’s new thing requires preparation and waiting. Even Jesus didn’t show up on the scene and suddenly set all things right from the stable’s manger. Approximately thirty years later, Isaiah’s words once again declared the new through the mouth of John the Baptist: “A voice of one calling in the desert, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him. Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill made low. The crooked roads shall become straight, the rough ways smooth. And all mankind will see God’s salvation.” Luke 3:4b-6.
Jesus indeed shows us God’s salvation. He does a new thing- fulfilling the law perfectly and teaching us righteousness is found only in Him. He does a new thing- opening our eyes to the truest reality, His kingdom. He does a new thing- healing the lame, opening the eyes of the blind, and driving away demons. He does a new thing- laying down His life, paying the penalty of sin once for all. He does a new thing- conquering death and offering eternal life. He does a new thing- gifting us His Holy Spirit, to live in and through His children. He does a new thing- empowering boldness in even the weakest and least of vessels to proclaim His gospel message. He does a new thing- welcoming people of all backgrounds into His family by grace through faith in His name.
And Jesus wants to do a new thing in your heart and life as well.
Don’t miss the new by clinging so tightly to the old!
What “tradition” might Jesus be wanting to break down in your heart? What expectation or reactive pattern might be enslaving you and keeping you from true freedom and joy in Him? Or keeping you from loving someone well in your life?
How might Jesus still do a new thing in the midst of your life’s wilderness? Even the prophet Isaiah, who declared these words of hope from the Lord, didn’t know that details, in what manner it would all work out, or how God could redeem something so horrible as what the nation of Israel was experiencing. But Isaiah trusted the Word of God. What truth from God’s Word might you cling to in this season of preparation and waiting for something more?
The Christmas season is one in which we tend to celebrate much of the “old,” the traditional. It IS important to recall the past, not to exert control in recreating days gone by, but to remember God’s faithfulness. Deep trust in Him grows over time as we experience His faithfulness over and over. God’s faithfulness is not a one-time event but a pattern on which we can depend because He is worthy of our trust. This advent season we remember God’s faithfulness in sending Jesus to mankind, to redeem and restore the lost. But even more, remember that Jesus has always been about doing a new thing, bringing life to death, and springing forth living water from the desert. He IS doing a new thing in you… may He open your eyes to see Him anew and revive your heart to face forward with confidence in Him. He is faithful and worthy of our trust!