Wastelands and Wilderness

Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end. (Seneca)

“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland." (Isaiah 43:18-19)

When we 'begin' we seldom think of the ending. We imagine it will go one way, but when all is said and done, we really had no idea what we'd encounter along the way. When a beginning must come to an end, it is because something new is about to begin. To some, the idea of 'beginning again' is kind of frightening. The imagination plays out all kinds of scenarios, some grand and others worse than what just ended. God's words to us: "Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past." The past is gone - we cannot get it back, nor can we recover any of the moments that are already past. We can look forward, seeing that God is about to do a 'new thing' and trust that he will help us with any of the regrets of what has just ended. God is truly a God of new beginnings, and we need to trust his wisdom with where we are headed now.

I am doing a new thing - God isn't about to leave us unsettled, without hope, or wandering aimlessly. He will begin that new thing, assured that we will begin to see it and find hope within his provision. When we dwell upon the past, we lose out on the hope of that new beginning - we don't see his movement out ahead of us, nor is our heart willing to embrace whatever action he may require of us as he begins to 'do a new thing' in us. We must let go of the past, holding onto the promise of the 'new thing' he is beginning. One door shuts and another opens. Do we go through the door, or stand there helplessly hoping we could go back to what has just ended? The choice to move is ours, but the preparation of what lies ahead is all his doing!

A wilderness and a wasteland have some pretty similar characteristics. A wilderness is uninhabited and undeveloped; a wasteland has been inhabited but has been laid waste by some human action. Both are pretty 'unlikely places' for us to want to venture into, but neither is without beauty when they are in God's hands. A wilderness is still rich with discovery. A wasteland requires much intervention to discover again its beauty. In God's hands, both are opened up to us as we 'begin anew'. We won't know the beauty to be discovered or 'recovered' until we take that first step into them with him at the lead. Just sayin!