The old new wasn't all that bad, was it?

For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland. (Isaiah 43:19)

The 'old' may have seemed pretty awesome, but have you ever considered what God may be doing when he is beginning something new in you? There have been times when I have been so comfortable with the 'old new' that God did in me that I resist his moving me on into something 'new' again. I want to look back instead of forward, making it harder for him to keep me focused on what he is about to do. God may be laying out some pretty awesome change right ahead of us, but as long as we are constantly looking back and longing for the 'old new', we aren't going to fully embrace the 'new' he has in store.

I have noticed that God begins something 'new' and then he kind of 'wraps up' the 'old new' for us. It is like he is repainting the walls of our lives. The old was good for a time, but it doesn't quite 'measure up' to what he wants to see displayed in our lives now. So, he prepares us for the new by calling us, challenging us to see what he is doing, and then entering into it. We may not have realized how much of a 'wasteland' our 'old' had become until we see how he is transforming it. Hold onto the wasteland and eventually you will become crusted, dry, and hardened.

We get to the new from the old by following the pathway God provides. He has already made the pathway, but we might not see where it leads yet. His promise is that it is 'through' the wilderness of the 'old' and into the freshness of the new. To be entirely truthful with you, there have been times when I have known God is moving in my life but have had no idea what he was doing. As hard as I tried to understand what he was doing, where he was leading me, or what the need was for the 'move', I just didn't see it. God isn't finished and we need to trust him even when all we see is the wasteland around us. The path is THROUGH it! 

Give God the reins. Let him reveal the path, then set out to see where it leads. The 'old new' was pretty awesome when we came into it, but what God is about to do may be even more awesome. God doesn't want crusty Christians - he wants living, vital ones. Just sayin!