Get Ready for a New Thing

Today is the Beginning of Something New

Today is the beginning of something new for me. It is the beginning of my 60’s! It is also the beginning of retirement from the Army! I stand on the edge of something new.

I didn’t choose the topic this morning because of my birthday or because of my retirement. I have felt the stirring of the Lord, challenging me to broaden the boundaries of my thoughts (think how does God get things done in me, the church, and in others).

I don’t have the answers but I just hear the Holy Spirit stirring me…maybe you are feeling it as well.

We Are Children of a God of New Beginnings

Standing on the edge of something new is typically both exciting and unsettling. I believe that there is something new stirring. It will be new and fresh but something good. God is not stuck in the past. He’s the Creator – and that means He is always creative, always moving, always restoring. God delights in transformation, renewal, and fresh starts!

Today I want to encourage you with words from the prophet Isaiah that God loves to do new things in our lives:

Isaiah 43:19 (NIV) 19See, 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.

Remember that in Genesis 1, we meet God not as a warrior, judge, or ruler—but as an artist. “In the beginning, God created…” Creation itself was God’s first new thing. The God we serve brings light where there was darkness, order from where there was chaos, and life where there was emptiness.

Isaiah 43:19 reflects that same heart:

· “Behold”—Look! Pay attention! God is calling for our attention because we tend to focus on what was instead of what can be.

· “I am doing a new thing”—Not I might, or someday, but now. It’s already happening.

· “Do you not perceive it?”—Sometimes God is working even when we don't see it yet.

God Supplies Our New Days

Lack of faith and trust in God are barriers that keep us from being effective Christians. The same was true in the days of Isaiah. The nation of Israel needed to be reminded that God had created and called them as His own people. So, God reminds them of the truth – He is the Creator, He alone is their redeemer, He holds the future, He is incomparable, and there is no other.[1]

God Alone is the Creator

Isaiah 43:1 (NIV) 1But now, this is what the Lord says— he who created you, Jacob, he who formed you, Israel: …

God Alone Is Our Redeemer

Isaiah 43:1b (NIV) … “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine.

God Alone Holds the Future

Isaiah 43:8–9 (NIV) 8Lead out those who have eyes but are blind, who have ears but are deaf. 9All the nations gather together and the peoples assemble. Which of their gods foretold this and proclaimed to us the former things? Let them bring in their witnesses to prove they were right, so that others may hear and say, “It is true.”

God Is in His Own Category

Isaiah 43:3 (NIV) 3For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I give Egypt for your ransom, Cush and Seba in your stead.

Isaiah 43:10–11 (NIV) 10“You are my witnesses,” declares the Lord, “and my servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor will there be one after me. 11I, even I, am the Lord, and apart from me there is no savior.

Maybe you feel stuck—spiritually dry, relationally weary, or emotionally drained. The good news is this: God's nature is to bring life where there is death, order where there is disorder, and hope where there is despair. Can you believe for that with me today?

God Likes to Do New Things

God Does New Things in Desolate Places

Isaiah says God will “make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.” These are not just poetic words; they represent the hardest places in life:

Wilderness: times of confusion, wandering, loneliness.

Desert: places of dryness, exhaustion, and scarcity.

These are the very places where God says, “Watch what I can do.”

Biblical examples:

Moses thought his life was over at 80, herding sheep in the wilderness—but God met him there in a burning bush and called him to lead a nation.

Hagar, abandoned and alone in the desert, found a spring and a promise from God.

Abraham,  as an old man becomes a father and the father of a nation.

Gideon, hiding out in a winepress threshing wheat – the weakest clan in Manasseh, the least of his family – becomes the champion of the nation.

Jesus, after fasting in the wilderness, came out in the power of the Spirit to begin His public ministry.

God doesn’t avoid dry places—He transforms them. He specializes in making something out of nothing.

God’s “New Things” Often Begin with Change

We love the idea of new things… until they require change.

The Israelites were used to slavery, and when God delivered them, they grumbled in the wilderness.

The early church had to leave their comfort zones in Jerusalem to fulfill the Great Commission.

Even good change—like a new calling, a new relationship, a new beginning—often requires us to let go of the familiar.

Isaiah 43:18, the verse before our key verse, says:

“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.”

Sometimes we can’t embrace what’s next because we’re clinging too tightly to what’s behind. What “former thing” do you need to release today?

God's New Thing Is for His Glory and Our Good

When God does something new, it’s not random. It has purpose—to display His glory and to draw us closer to Him.

Romans 8:28 reminds us that God works “all things together for good.” That includes:

· A broken season that leads you to healing.

· A closed door that directs you to a better opportunity.

· A disappointment that becomes a deeper dependence on Him.

And all of it works together for a greater testimony—a story of God's goodness and faithfulness that others can see.

If you’re walking through a “wilderness” or “desert” today, remember—those are the very places where God's "new thing" springs up.

Don’t Miss It!

Isaiah asks, “Do you not perceive it?” That tells us something important: we can miss it. God can be working, but if we’re consumed by fear, bitterness, or busyness, we might not notice. Perceiving requires spiritual eyes, a heart of expectation, and time in prayer and the Word.

Ask yourself:

Where might God be doing something new in my life?

What do I need to surrender to see it more clearly?

God is Still a Deliverer! He is Still Strong!

Isaiah 43:16–17 (NIV) 16This is what the Lordsays— he who made a way through the sea, a path through the mighty waters, 17who drew out the chariots and horses, the army and reinforcements together, and they lay there, never to rise again, extinguished, snuffed out like a wick:

Israel forgot all of this and tried to solve their problems with foreign gods and false idols. Believe for it! God is the maker of the new day.

Embrace God’s New for You!

Let’s wrap it up with this thought: God’s new thing is not just for information—it’s for transformation.

He’s not just interested in making life better. He wants to make you new:

A new heart (Ezekiel 36:26)

Ezekiel 36:26 (NIV) 26I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.

A new spirit (Psalm 51:10)

Psalm 51:10 (NIV 10Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

Psalm 51:10 (MSG) 10God, make a fresh start in me, shape a Genesis week from the chaos of my life.

A new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17)

2 Corinthians 5:17 (NIV) 17Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!

Call to Action:

If you’ve never trusted Jesus—this is the new thing God wants to begin in you today.

If you’re weary—God is bringing rivers to your desert.

If you’re confused or lost—God is making a path where there is none.

"Father, thank You that You are the God of new things. Open our eyes to see what You’re doing, soften our hearts to trust You, and give us faith to walk in the newness of life You offer. We lay down our past and open our hands to Your future. In Jesus’ name, Amen."

[1]Paul R. House, Old Testament Theology (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1998), 288.