New Roads New RiversSample

Behold, I will do a new thing, Now it shall spring forth; Shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness And rivers in the desert. (ISA 43:19) When God makes a declaration, there is often a challenge connected with it. And the challenge usually boils down to this: Will you believe it? In this passage from Isaiah 43, God’s challenge to Israel and to us today is: Can you believe I will do this for you? 1. Can you lay hold of it? As followers of Christ, we are called to lift our beliefs above what we see with our natural eyes to what God declares in His Word to be truth. That means that when your child is sick, you lift your belief above the fact that they are ill and onto the truth that they are already healed by the stripes that Jesus took on the cross. (Isa 53:5; 1 Pet 2:24) It means when your wallet is empty or you cannot pay your bills, you lay hold of the truth declared in Philippians 4:19 that, “My God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” It means when the desires of your heart appear impossible, you lay hold of His promise in Psalm 37:4 to give them to you. 2 Corinthians 5:7 sums it up – “For we walk by faith, not by sight.” To embrace all that God has planned for your life, you must lay hold of His promise to make a way for you through the wilderness and valleys. 2. Shall you not know it? God speaks into our future just as He did to Israel and Judah’s future. Exodus 14:3 says that, “[Israel] were cornered in the wilderness” and at that point, God brought His people to an impassable place as they saw Pharaoh’s armies approaching. There was no way forward, no way back and no way through. They were cornered. Then, when God told Moses to lift up his rod, the people could not see ahead to where they were going. Yet God provided a way. Sometimes life feels like that. Many years ago, when Bobbie and I first came to Sydney, we had no clue what God would do, or what was ahead. All we had to go on were God’s promises and the dreams of our heart. The call of God is truly an adventure, with plenty of challenges and not much idea of what lies ahead, other than the fact that He has promised us it is going to be good! So we need to settle in our hearts that it is a journey navigated by faith – not by sight. Remember – wherever God leads you, He provides the way for you to reach your destination. PRAYER: Father, I know that Your Word is the truth and that it overrides the facts that I face from day to day. I choose to lay hold of all that You have promised concerning the dreams and desires of my heart, and by faith I will see them unfold.