“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)
We need to pray to be open to the new things God is doing among us.
When God was preparing Israel for the Messiah, he laid the groundwork by saying over and over that he was doing something totally new. But Israel had such a clear mental model of what that was going to look like that they missed Jesus when he was right in front of them. He rode in on a donkey, not on a beautiful horse as a conqueror. “He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him.” (Isaiah 53:2). When Nicodemus and others pointed to Jesus’ righteous works and miracles, that he was a good man and probably a prophet or the Messiah, the Pharisees responded with the mental image they had constructed for the Messiah from Scripture : “Look into it, and you will find that a prophet does not come out of Galilee.” (John 7:52) His disciples also struggled with their expectations - even after his resurrection in Acts, they were still expecting an earthly kingdom -“Lord are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” (Acts 1:6) Jesus fulfilled Scripture but so many missed it because he didn’t come in the way they thought he would.
It is one of the things that makes the Bible so fascinatingly authentic and what keeps us on our toes - the truth that we cannot put God in a box.
As many have prayed for Grace Chapel, the Lord has said that He is doing a new thing - among us. Let us be open to that new thing, whatever it may look like. Let us make room for him in the depths of our hearts by simply making time for Him, as we celebrate his coming at Advent.
Prayer Prompt: Dear Lord, open my eyes to your goodness, open my heart to what the Holy Spirit is doing in our midst and in our families. Help me make more room for you in my life so that I can live in the gift you came to give - Yourself.
Song of the Day: Glorious Day - Passion
