17 March 2013 - hope in the desert

17 March 2013 - hope in the desert

Remember not the events of the past,
the things of long ago consider not;
see, I am doing something new!
Now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?
In the desert I make a way,
in the wasteland, rivers.

The LORD doesn't want us to limit our view of him by what we have seen him do in the past.  He does want us to remember his works with gratitude but even more than that he wants us to hope in what he has in store for us.  It is more than we can ask for or even imagine (cf Ephesians 3:20).  

He knows that our lives have their deserts of suffering.  We become parched and quickly believe that there is just no water to be had.  We accept that fear of the wild beasts round about is the norm.  But the LORD is the one who makes rivers flow in the wasteland.  In the wasteland of sin and suffering the water of life flows from the side of Jesus.  This is something we wouldn't have dared to guess.  Our lives should therefore be marked by a hope which profoundly and supernaturally motivates us.

Just one thing: forgetting what lies behind 
but straining forward to what lies ahead, 
I continue my pursuit toward the goal, 
the prize of God’s upward calling, in Christ Jesus.

The sins of yesterday need not keep us bound today.  Perhaps our thoughts accuse us and tell us we cannot be free.  Jesus wants to give us victory over such thoughts just as he set the adulterous woman free from her accusers.  He will confound them.  And as they go he will unite us more deeply to himself.

And in response, they went away one by one,
beginning with the elders.

He is the one who makes all things new.  No matter where we are and no matter how we feel he has the power to fill our mouths with laughter and our tongues with rejoicing.  We can limit his ability to work if we insist that he is bound to our past patterns of experience.

Restore our fortunes, O LORD,
like the torrents in the southern desert.
Those that sow in tears
shall reap rejoicing.

He wants to free our hearts for rejoicing and to satisfy our thirst with the water of life.

The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy.