"God is Doing a New Thing"
By Rev. Robert Gary Kelly
Rev. Kelly is the pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Morristown, Tennessee, USA. He was the minister of First Presbyterian Church in Pulaski, Tennessee for the previous 18 years. Gary is married to Martha, a fourth grade teacher and has two teenaged children; John, 16 and Mary Katherine, who is 12.

"Behold I am doing a new thing" (Isa 43:19) For nearly 160 years God's people had been exiled by the Babylonians. The city of Jerusalem and the Temple had been destroyed and they often felt has if God had abandoned them and deserted them. Many of the laments of scripture carry the phrase 'How long O Lord?" This is in reference to how long will they have to suffer? How long will they have to wait for God to fulfill his promise of restoring the Israelites and allowing them to rebuild the Temple? Perhaps you have felt this way in your own life from time to time. We sometimes wonder if God has forgotten or abandoned us, if God is not listening to our prayers or is turning a deaf ear. But the word of the Lord to the Israelites and to us is that God does hear our cries, God does listen to us and God will provide for our needs. In the 43rd chapter of Isaiah we hear that God is about to do a new thing. God is about to restore His chosen people to their homeland, even though there does not seem to be any way that could possibly happen.

This is a common theme through out the Bible. God is always acting in new ways and doing things that no one thought possible. When God called Samuel we are told that the word of the Lord was rare in those days. There were not frequent visions of prophecies and yet, God said, "Behold I am about to do a new thing in Israel at which the two ears of everyone who hear it will tingle." (I Sam 3:11)

When Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt they traveled all the way to the Red Sea. Then life got tough. They were trapped. Remember? Pharaoh's army came and they were on one side and the Sea was on the other. Now, don't you know the people started whining, "We are doomed. This is it. It is over for us. There is no way out." And then God did a new thing. Something that had never happened before, surely not anything anybody would have asked for or thought about. God parted the Red sea. And suddenly the Israelites had an escape route. God did a new thing!!!

In our own lives we may feel trapped either by our situation or our sins. We may think there is no way out of this." I can't change, I have tried." Hear God's word to the Corinthians where he says: "No temptation has seized you except what is common to all humans. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it." (ICor10:13). God will provide a way out for you. God will do a new thing, something you have never thought about or expected.

This text also calls me to think of the situation in our world today. We have been at war. The negotiations failed with Saddam Hussein. There seemed to be no way out but war. We were trapped, at least in our own minds and with our own devices and tools of diplomacy, but such things do not bind God. God can do a new thing, a thing no one has thought about. Let us pray for God to do a new thing in our world, to provide a way where there does not seem to be a way, to direct us toward peace and renewal. When there seems to be no hope and no way out, let us trust in the God who is willing and able to do a new thing!

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