Now It Springs Up!
I don’t know about you guys, but I am a practical girl, and when I need to accomplish something, I need to know exactly how I will achieve the task at hand. I am a list making, bullet point, step by step, numbering woman. Now don’t get me wrong, I can listen to long talks and exhaustive lectures on topics I am passionate about, I actually really like that, but when it’s all said and done, I need to know how to practically put what I just learned into good use ! I must have practical practicality…PLEASE and THANK YOU!😁
That is my intention with this blog. For us to learn together how to practically live out God’s Word. If you have accepted Jesus as your Savior, then His Word is a lamp for your feet and a light onto your path (Psalm 119:105). He Equips us with the Holy Spirit who empowers us to live out His Word, but it definitely requires for us to be mindfully an physically intentional with our actions. The enemy is constantly trying to get us to walk out of alignment with God’s Word, so we need to study the word, and then with the help of the Holy Spirit, practice to practically live it out. For many of you this maybe how you already function in your day to day lives and you’re all in! For others this maybe a very different way of approaching God’s Word. Either way I pray this blog will be a blessing to you, and challenge you to live more practically for our Lord. As we study His Word, we will see that God is very practical. He gives us specific instructions to help us succeed in our walk with him, for we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.(Eph. 2:10) so, let’s get to it!
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 43:19)
How many times when we are in the middle of a trial or adversity do we find ourselves going around and around in the wilderness trying to find our way out and desperately looking for what will quench the spiritual dryness we often experience. God tells us that He works all things for the good of those who love him, right? So let’s do a little dissection on Isaiah 43:19. Maybe there is some practical application to help us in our times of being in the wilderness and wastelands.
Isaiah 43:19 has personally gotten me through many dry and dark valleys. But Lets be honest, this scripture is filled with both encouragement and dread all at the same time. On one hand it is confirming the existence of our current, past and future wilderness and wastelands. In no way is God sugar coating what we may be walking through, and neither is He saying He is going to put a swift end to it. However, on the other hand He is telling us to look for and expect his help.
I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.(Isaiah 43:19)
1. He is in charge of our wilderness and wastelands.
• If we focus on the fact that God’s hand is over the circumstance or trial we are facing, it will bring a source of comfort.
2. He will create a way for us to make it through them.
• This “way” and the stream he provides will be made, created, cultivated and most times we won’t see it coming. God will supernaturally make it happen. So don’t despair, he is working on something. With expectation, praise and thank Him for it until it happens.
3. He is allowing us to be in this place because it is His will for our lives. It can be for numerous reasons.
• It can be because He is breaking new ground in us, refining areas in us that need more work, exposing sin or character defects that need to be dealt with, deepening our faith in Him, and preparing us for the good works He has planned for us.
God is telling us that He is in control of all of it! If we focus on those 3 things, it will produce hope and perseverance to keep us going and bring praise to Him when He makes a way where there seems to be no way. But that’s not all! God gives us a practical call to action in this scripture, to me it is the most exciting part of Isaiah 43:19
See I am doing a new thing! now it springs up do you not perceive it!
( Isaiah 43:19)
Our God is so good and loves us so much, that He brings us alongside Him and says,” Hey!! Look at what I’m doing in and through you!! I am doing this new thing, and it’s going to be so great…….see! It just sprang up, right there, over there, don’t you see it???” The Lord calls us to look for the new thing He is doing in the midst of the wilderness. Ladies, if we can get this, and make looking for the new thing become second nature to us, it will change how we handle our times of suffering. We know for a fact that in this life we will have trouble, John 16:33 tells us this, but it also says to take heart. We can be courageous and confident, not in ourselves but in our God. This takes practice, it’s in our flesh to panic and freeeaaakkkk out! But we have to learn to crucify our flesh and get it to submit to new healthier habits.
Okay, so here is what I want you to do. How in depth you choose to go into this will totally be up to you. I want you to go treasure mining in your past or current wasteland to look for what God caused to spring up in and through you . Once you find your treasure, you then need to acknowledge how it has served you and if possible how you can alongside God refine it and make it even better! Here are the tools you will need:
Treasures in the Wasteland Journal
- Paper/Journal to write in
- Favorite pen, highlighter, colored pencils (for the artsy chicks!)
- Courage to dig deep into past trials and adversities
- Humility to recognize areas you went wrong
- Steamy cup of coffee or tea in your best mug ( iced tea/ iced coffee girls… do your thing!)
Pray: Ask the Holy Spirit to guide you through this process and allow this to be a fruitful exercise that will lead to a path of righteousness for God’s namesake.
1
Now let’s start digging! Set aside 3 pages, and Label the first page Wasteland and Wilderness, the second A way and Streams and the third, Treasure of New Things. Then think about a difficult time in your past or present. On your Wasteland and Wilderness sheet write down the aspects of that trial that made you feel you were in a wasteland or wilderness. List any difficult lessons you learned, any sin you had to confront, things you learned about yourself or others. (This is NOT to dredge up pain, take a surface view of the circumstance, remember your digging for treasure. Go only as deep as you are comfortable with).
2
Okay, now that you have labeled your 3 sheets, use your Making A Way and Streams sheet to list the ways God provided and led you through your wilderness. How did He do it? Did you see any resolution that was done supernaturally? Did He us other people to be His hands and feet? Looking back, how did He work on your heart condition during this time? Can you see places where He made an impactful change in you? were you resistant to this change? If so, why?
3
Finally, on your Treasure of New Things sheet, excavate the treasure!! Through the difficulty you used as your wasteland and wilderness experience , what new thing did God spring up in and through you? Did you notice it then or now? What things, positive and negative, did you learn about yourself? What new strength were gained or revealed? What changes did you implement? What lessons were learned? Did you learn anything NEW from this exercise? Journal about it and ask the Lord to use it for his plan and purpose in your life. Take sometime to reflect on the goodness of what God did and revealed.
Make Use of the Gems God Cultivated!
Did your trip through that wasteland and wilderness reveal a hidden passion or skill? Did The Lord bring you to another level of faith in Him? Have you been able to minister into someone’s life because of what you went through? Write your treasures down. Some things will emerge further down the road, but the cultivation started here. Now, look at your treasures and see how God is refining those gems.
So many people start businesses, new careers, develop ministries, write books, serve communities, start non-profit organizations, break free from strongholds, start blogs 😏, and accept Jesus into their lives, all from being in the wilderness and wastelands. Remember Jesus was in His dessert with the Devil himself for 40 days before He accomplished defeating death once and for all, for us! The value of that treasure is immeasurable. Every good thing He works through us, is for His Glory and our good, be certain to lay it all at His feet and give Him praise for every stream he has provided and will provide. My desire is that this exercise will give you a new special love for the promise in Isaiah 43:19. If this blessed you, share! We all know a sister in Christ going through a wasteland, be a stream of encouragement to her.
You can do this exercise just once or choose to keep it ongoing when those pesky adversities pop up. I pray that you will find it beneficial to your walk with the Lord. Let’s choose to look for the “New Thing” and expect the streams he promises to bring through our wastelands, remembering always; For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen is spoken by us to the glory of God (2 Corinthians 1:20).
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Finally, if you haven’t yet accepted Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior, then today is the day for salvation!! Acts 4:12- “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved” – Oh how sweet it is to trust in Jesus! – God Bless.
If you have little sprouts that you have been trusted to disciple, please check out my Children’s book The Trees and the Land of Other Waters. It is a story that will reach deep into the hearts of both child and adult.