A New Thing

Isaiah 43:16–21

Phrases that spoke to me today:
• Who makes a way through the sea
• Do not remember the former things
• See, I am doing something new
• I make a way in the wilderness
• Rivers in the wasteland

Applying the Word to my Life:
Imagine meeting someone for the first time. You meet at a coffee shop, sit down and exchange the traditional pleasantries. Then the person puts a small booklet down on the table and says, “If we are going to be friends, you need to work through and memorize this little rule book I prepared.” Even if the rules are reasonable, starting there creates distance. I’m guessing that would probably be the last time you would get together with that person.

As a manager, I’ve thought long and hard about that first conversation with a new team member. I’m not trying to give them a rule book on day one. I’m trying to help them breathe. I want them to know what kind of person they’re dealing with, and what they can expect from me. So I start with a few simple promises.

I want them comfortable enough to try new things and expand their skills. That means mistakes will be made. I promise them that when they are, I’m not going to embarrass them. I’m not going to correct them in front of everyone. I promise them that, if something goes wrong under my watch, I’ll own it. I want them to know who I am. I want them to feel safe with me before we ever start talking about expectations.

That’s when expectations actually help—because they’re resting on relationship.

In the coffee shop scene, rules create distance and make a relationship pretty unlikely. In a healthy team, commitment creates relationship, and from that relationship expectations can actually help the relationship thrive. The order matters. Relationship then rules. Covenant then commandment. That’s the way it’s supposed to work.

And if I’m honest, I can slip into approaching God like that coffee shop table. I can start with the rule book. I can treat faith like a list of requirements I need to manage before I’m allowed to feel close.

But that isn’t how God introduces Himself to His people in Isaiah. God starts by reminding His people who He is and what He has already done. He’s the One who made a way where there wasn’t a way—who opened a path through waters, who broke the power of what pursued them. He doesn’t begin with Israel’s failures. He begins with His faithfulness. He anchors them in memory so they can have the courage to move.

But relationship can’t live on yesterday alone. God doesn’t just say, “Remember what I did.” He pulls the relationship forward when He tells them not to remember the former things. God isn’t asking them to pretend the past didn’t happen. He’s not erasing the Exodus or ignoring the exile. He’s protecting them from living as if the old story is the only story. Because sometimes the past—even a past that includes real miracles—can become a ceiling. Sometimes it becomes the place I hide: my old label, my old failure, my old shame, my old “this is just how I am.”

And that’s where the order really matters for me. When I start with commandment and try to work my way back into covenant, faith turns into a scorecard. If I’m doing well, I feel proud. If I’m doing poorly, I feel ashamed. Either way, I end up distant. It’s hard to be close to someone I’m treating like an evaluator.

So God says, “See, I am doing something new.” Not, “Try harder and reinvent yourself.” Not, “Climb out of this.” God’s mercy doesn’t just forgive; it opens a future. He makes a way in the wilderness and rivers in the wasteland—provision where you expected none, grace that reaches you before circumstances change.

God starts with covenant—His nearness, His faithfulness, His initiative—and then He gives direction that can actually lead to life. Which makes me wonder: where have I been treating God like the coffee shop rulebook guy? Where have I been trying to earn closeness instead of receiving it? What are the “former things” in my life that God wants to make new?

My Response for Today:
Today I will name one “former thing” I’ve been living from and invite God to do something new there.