Isaiah 43:16-21
Philippians 3:8-14
Luke 20:9-19
Isaiah 43:16-21
16Thus says the LORD, who makes a way in the sea, a path in the mighty waters, 17who brings out chariot and horse, army and warrior; they lie down, they cannot rise, they are extinguished, quenched like a wick: 18Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old. 19I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. 20The wild animals will honor me, the jackals and the ostriches; for I give water in the wilderness, rivers in the desert, to give drink to my chosen people, 21the people whom I formed for myself so that they might declare my praise.
This is the fifth Sunday of Lent. We are getting closer to the end of our journey. Next Sunday will be Palm Sunday, followed by “Holy Week and Easter then tell who died and rose again” as the old children’s hymn says.
Today, the reading from Isaiah focuses on God who declares, “Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old. I am about to do a new thing.” In the Isaiah reading, we are reminded of the Exodus, of God “making a way in the wilderness” and “giving drink to my chosen people.”
In the northern part of NM, the Rio Chama winds its way south past limestone cliffs. Over the millennia, it has carved a channel to forge a way through the wilderness. As we look toward Good Friday, we know that God’s plan of salvation involves more than streams in the desert—it involves a deeper relationship with the One who knows us intimately and still loves us.
Centuries later, God is still doing new things. God is always renewing and changing us. That renewal may involve carving away a bit of the limestone around our hearts. Over the years the little frustrations and irritations build up between us and God's love. I don't know about you, but I tend to resist the changes, but God's love makes a new channel and finds a way to soften even the hardest heart.
What new thing is God doing in your life this day or this Lent? Is your relationship with God changing? Do you find yourself asking God the words found in this poem from an old Daughters of the King magazine?
Why me, Lord?
Here I am,
“In the thick of things.”
Once I wasn’t,
Someday I won’t be.
But here, now, I am.
Right in the middle of a strange, mixed-up world,
and with this nagging awareness within me that you want me,
To do something—or say something—or be something
That shall make a difference.
It may not change the course of history—
this that you want me to say or do or be
but it may change the course of some life:
Mine?—His?—Hers?—Theirs?
And I am obligated to respond to
Thy call on behalf of all mankind.
WHY ME LORD?
And what, what would you have me do?
For your Journal: List some things that you used to do, but aren’t active in anymore. Make a second list of things you are active in now and then a third list of things you are (or might be) interested in doing.
Look at the three lists and see what changes and new things God has already done in your life. Do you feel God urging you to look more closely at anything on the third list?
