Women’s Connect June Devotional
No matter what is going on in your life right now, take a breath, slow down, and spend some time with Jesus as you read this devotional. Lauren Hellum shares so beautifully about our new Women’s Connect theme for the year, ‘A New Thing’. We pray it blesses you today and lifts your gaze to Jesus and the new thing He is doing in your life! He is our Way Maker.
Love,
Rachel Greene
I am so excited for this new year’s theme, “A New Thing” which derives from 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.”
I still remember when my husband, Nate, told us about one of our “New Things.” I had just gotten home from trying to convince 120 twelve-year-olds that yes, you will use this math when you’re older… my brain was heavy from the day, and all I wanted was to put my pregnant feet up and take a nap. I was setting my things on the kitchen table when Nate walked in, looked at me, and said, “Just a heads up, I applied to a church in Ames, Iowa…” Before this, he had applied to a couple of other churches, but this church felt different. It was the first church that I had instant peace… I didn’t even know the name of the church, but I felt that this was where God was calling us. I knew that despite having to leave my parents and sisters, despite having to leave a job I loved, and despite not knowing anybody we were about to call our church family… I had peace; a peace that surpassed my understanding (Philippians 4:6). I was continually unsurprised as Nate passed through each new stage within the search process. God continued to show us that this was where He wanted us. Now, over 3 years later, God has shown His goodness over and over again and Nate and I can both recount the “ways He made in the wilderness and rivers in the desert” to lead us to Christ Community Church.
But going back to Isaiah 43:19. At this point in Israel’s history, they were being held captive in Babylon. Isaiah was prophetically telling God’s chosen people that there was more. God had more for them. Yet, if they continued to dwell on the discouragement of being in captivity, they would not see the new thing God had for them. If we backtrack to the first part of Isaiah 43, we see God saying, “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.”
(Can we stop there for a moment? “You are mine.” Is there ever a more humbling phrase? We are God’s. He claims us, in all our stuff. We are HIS!)
“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior…Because you are precious in my eyes and honored, and I love you…” (Isaiah 43:1b-3a,4a) Even when Israel feels stuck with no hope, God is reminding them that He is with them! In all of it. Good and bad, in the beautiful and the ugly. God has told us this life will not be easy, (James 1:2) yet He promises to be with us through each part of it, every new thing.
Everybody in every season of this life has “A New Thing” that God is leading them towards and through. He has promised to be with us, hold our hands, and lead us towards a righteousness only He can give. I’m sure the majority of us are familiar with the story of the footprints in the sand, where we are reminded that in the deepest valleys of our lives, when we only see one set of footprints God is saying, “My precious child, I love you and I would never leave you. During your times of trial and suffering when you see only one set of footprints, it was then that I carried you.” (Footprints by Carolyn Carty)
At the end of Isaiah 43:19, it asks, “Do you not perceive it?” God is asking us this same question today. Do you not see what I am doing? Will you trust me with this new thing? Step forward in your faith, trusting that He is holding you, and leading you to His good. (Romans 8:28)
So, dear sister, what is your “New Thing”?