New Things

Who doesn’t like new stuff? I mean, there’s just a certain allure and attraction that comes with new things. Kids like new toys…Teens enjoy new technology…Adults strive for new jobs…and we all seem to enjoy new experiences – at least when they are pleasurable! And it is that experiencing of new things that prompts me to write this little story…

Here in Louisiana, the landscape is primarily…well…flat. With the exception of some isolated patches of hills here and there, we gaze upon roads, fields, swamps, and forests that are for the most part as flat as a pancake. Now don’t get me wrong, my home state possesses its own unique beauty that can’t be matched in certain ways by any other state. But living here, we just tend to grow accustomed to it. And so, each summer, I try to take a handful of folks from the place they’ve always been to a place they’ve never been in order to share with them some of the beauty of God’s creation that they might not have otherwise gotten to experience.

The picture above was taken recently on a trip two states away with some young men that I have taught in school, think highly of, and believe God has great things in store for. It’s funny how just getting out of the normal surroundings of life allows us to see the handiwork of God in a more clear fashion. When these boys saw rivers that had water so clear you could see the bottom 15 feet down, they were blown away. When they saw cliffs and bluffs taller than the tallest building back home, they were amazed. And when they saw species of fish and animals that don’t exist back home, they were overwhelmed. All of these experiences opened up the door for lots of conversations about God as creator. We decided that the area we were in had to have been touched by the finger of God as He scraped a path for a river through the mountains! We figured the Almighty must have touched the waters there and made them as pure as He himself is! And on and on it went. I guess the 100 plus smallmouth bass (which don’t live back home) and rainbow trout (which don’t live back home either) were just an added bonus to the experience of God’s creation and the talks about our Maker I was able to enjoy with these two guys!

I do believe that God is into new things as well. Don’t misunderstand me – God is God, and He never changes according to Malachi 3:6. But thank God that He does DO new things! In Isaiah 43:19, the Lord declares, See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland. Have you ever needed a way made for you in your wilderness of life? The God who does new things can make it! In the New Testament book of 2 Corinthians, we find the wonderful truth that …if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. And ultimately, our great hope and assurance is that one day our Savior will, make all things new. Revelation 21:5.

So what’s the “New” thing that the Lord has been impressing upon you to do, experience, etc.? Do you need to trust Him to make a New way for you in life? Has He been leading you to a New area of service for Himself? Perhaps you need to allow Him to make you a New creation like the scripture above says. The boys I took on the trip experienced new places, new fish, and new rivers, and it all resulted in a new outlook on the magnificence of God…which, by the way, was the whole point in the trip anyway! So I challenge you to trust the Living God who is into new things to enable you to accomplish whatever the “New” is that He’s placed in your heart and mind. It just might be that His new thing changes the course of your life! Now down some new stream, new road, or a new patch of woods, I’ll see you in the Great Outdoors!