What really matters
I am the Lord, who opened a way through the waters, making a dry path through the sea. I called forth the mighty army of Egypt with all its chariots and horses. I drew them beneath the waves, and they drowned, their lives snuffed out like a smoldering candlewick. “But forget all that—it is nothing compared to what I am going to do. For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun... I have made Israel for myself, and they will someday honor me before the whole world. Isaiah 43:16-21 NLT
From the text, the Israelites were reminded of their past experience where God freed them from Egyptian bondage. As they were reminded of this great event, God is assuring them that such experience is not a one-time event. There will be an imminent redemption from what they were going through. They will be freed from the Babylonians. This time, the experience will be much greater from the previous one for God will literally turn nature upside down. He wants the people of God to forsake their idols and turn to Him in repentance and when they do they will be brought to an experience they have never been before. “It is nothing compared to what I am going to do. For I am about to do something new.” This is what God promises to those who place their trust in Christ. It is not just about the mercies of the past but the anticipation that He will turn their sorrows into joy. He will open “a way through the waters, making a dry path through the sea.” God never runs out of new amazing ways to bring us to a next level of knowledge of Him. Once we reach our own Red Sea barrier, if we trust and follow Him, He will get us through. God does this so that we “will someday honor Him [me] before the whole world.” He is the true God, the only Savior and He deserves to be known and worship. Our joy becomes a manifestation of His glory that the world needs to know. This truth should take hold of our hearts so that we will realize that in every trial we face, God’s purpose is to strengthen us by His grace and when we are strengthened, He is glorified. We are renewed by the new mercies He bestows upon us each day. “Even though the fig trees have no blossoms, and there are no grapes on the vines; even though the olive crop fails, and the fields lie empty and barren; even though the flocks die in the fields, and the cattle barns are empty, yet I will rejoice in the Lord! I will be joyful in the God of my salvation! The Sovereign Lord is my strength!” (Habakkuk 3:17-18).
Blessings,
