In the biblical text, God told His people, “I’m about to do a new thing” (Isaiah 43:19). Times without number, the people of Israel sinned against Him. They broke the covenant and defiled themselves. They were not faithful to Him even though He has been faithful in fulfilling His part of the covenant. To this end, the Israelites had already been exiled. Judah was on the verge of going into exile. God’s covenant people went against their covenant obligations. Isaiah the prophet predicted captivity, but God was not done with His people whom He saved.
To the people of God, who could only see and glimpse of doom, God told them, “ I am about to do a new thing.” Concerning the new thing God promised; 1) They would go the captivity, but the remnant will return. 2) The temple would be rebuilt. 3) And their Messiah would come. This is why in the second part of the book of Isaiah, a lot is said about the Servant of God. He would come and save Israel at last so that they will never be exiled again. With this in mind, God’s covenant people not be wiped out from the face of the earth by the Assyrians or the Babylonians, or by any nation. God gave them this hope in their hopeless time.
The story of Israel, in many ways, is not different from ours. Sometimes, we fail God. We disappoint Him and go back to our vomit. We act against His word and betray our promises. We ponder and dwell on our failures. We only see our frailties. To this end, we do not see what God wants to do with our lives. Nonetheless, as God told the Israelites, He is saying the words to you, my reader. He wants to do a new thing in your life. Yes, because of your past failures, many would count you out. Appallingly, you might count yourself out. But God is saying to you, “I am about to do a new thing.” It is not you who will be doing the new thing, else, it would have ended in failure, shame, and reproach. It is the Almighty who has declared, “I am about to do a new thing.” Will you trust Him to fulfill His words in your life? Will you forget about your past failures and clinch on the one who is faithful and has promised to do a new thing? You can rely on Him. Surely, He can do a new thing in your life too.
Michael Yaw Tano
Return To Christ 