New

“During those many days the king of Egypt died, and the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help. Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God. And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. God saw the people of Israel—and God knew” (Exodus 2:23-25).

Waiting. Four hundred years of silence in slavery.

“And coming up at that very hour [to Mary, Joseph, and Jesus], she [Anna] began to give thanks to God and to speak of him to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem” (Luke 2:38).

Waiting. Four hundred years of silence after Malachi.

Us? Waiting. Waiting for breakthrough. Waiting for an end to the struggle, a light at the end of the tunnel, God’s silence to be ended, an answer to guidance, a new diagnosis that the last lab revealed, waiting for good news…. Waiting.

The Israelites just groaned. Didn’t even groan to God. Yet, God bends his ear to hear the groans of the oppressed, whether to him or not. And then, suddenly, crossed the Red Sea—a group of slaves and now a group of free. New. 

“And he who was seated on the throne said, ‘Behold, I am making all things new.’ Also he said, ‘Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true’” (Revelation 21:5).

“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble” (Ps. 46:1).

"Simeon's Song of Praise" by Aert de Gelder

Anna, still waiting after four hundred years. Her waiting was filled with worshipping and fasting and prayer (Luke 2:37). Expectant. Unlike Simeon, the Holy Spirit in his scriptural inspiration doesn’t tell us she had a word from God that she would see the Savior. But she was expectant. Worshipping. Praying. Waiting over four hundred years of silence, over her own eighty-four years.

Then, at that very hour, redemption. New breaks in. Hope. Jesus. The dawn of the age to come. Breahtaking new. New Israel. New hope. New creation. New kingdom. New covenant. New age. We, having lived in it for 2,000 years, hard to grasp the newness. The angels that sang at the creation of the world once again broke forth on that Christmas Eve in celebration at a new creation. New. 

“Behold, I am making all things new….”

I AM. The character of our God who created in the beginning, created anew with Noah, created a new  hope for the world with Abraham, created a new nation after the Red Sea and at Sinai, a new start after the exile, and new with Jesus, new with your new birth, and will create a new heavens and a new earth. New is part of who he is, who he is spilling out into new works, new redemption, new miracles, new hope. This is the character of our God. I AM. The dynamic unconstrained by time and space I AM making all things new. 

Us. Me. You. Continual hope in the new-making God. 

AM MAKING. Present progressive tense. Present help. In time and space, acting to make all things new. Now. Not later. But God is working now to make new. Our daily moments, our areas of darkness, our sins, our struggles, finances, relationships, words, etc. are all part of his newness. Every word of good , act of grace, offering of forgiveness, praise of faith is advancing his kingdom of light, advancing his newness, his re-creation towards shalom. 

ALL THINGS. Me. You. Our life. Our struggles. Yes, we will die. Yes, the current heavens and earth will pass away (Mat. 25:34). Yes, we still struggle with the old man, with disappointments, with darkness winning some battles. But.

But. 

But Lord, keep my spirit expectant.
For YOU are I AM, your character of the God who makes new.
You ARE WORKING.
And ALL THINGS are under your hand.
The same power that spoke creation, the same God that spoke new hope for the world in a covenant to Abraham, the same God that spoke new life into Sarah's barren womb, the same God that created a new nation of Israel, the same God that created and sealed a new covenant in Christ is working.

This is MY GOD, and it is you who define reality.

The past thirteen years do not define the next minute; you do. You who are doing a new thing, who are making all things new. The past financial straits, the past names, the past guilt, the past shame, the past sickness, the past mountains, the past broken relationships do not define us or our circumstances. God alone does. The God who can break in suddenly or like a mustard seed in quiet ways, the God who is working for our good. In Christ, suddenly, the kingdom arrived. Greater assurance have we! All things new! New creations. New birth. New children of God. New Father. New citizenship. So we expect new. We expect a God who is working!

But Lord, waiting, my spirit can flag. Keep my eyes fixed on you! Expectant!

“This resurrection life you received from God is not a timid, grave-tending life. It’s adventurously expectant, greeting God with a childlike “What’s next, Papa?” God’s Spirit touches our spirits and confirms who we really are. We know who he is, and we know who we are: Father and children. And we know we are going to get what’s coming to us—an unbelievable inheritance! We go through exactly what Christ goes through. If we go through the hard times with him, then we’re certainly going to go through the good times with him!” (Romans 8:15-17, Message)

“Don’t burn out; keep yourselves fueled and aflame. Be alert servants of the Master, cheerfully expectant. Don’t quit in hard times; pray all the harder” (Romans 12:11-12, Message)

Lord, this minute, now, you can do something new. You define the next moment. You define tomorrow. You define me. And I trust you, your timing, your wisdom, your goodness.