DAY 9 – READ ISAIAH 43:18–19: WHAT “NEW THING” IS SPRINGING UP?

THEME: NEW PATHS IN FAMILIAR PLACES

FOCUS: SPIRITUAL RENEWAL, HOPE, AND NOTICING GOD’S UNFOLDING WORK

PRACTICE:

Find a quiet space to slowly read this passage—out loud if possible:

“Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old. I 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.” Isaiah 43:18–19 (NRSV)

Sit with those words for a few minutes. Read them again, this time pausing after each line.

What line speaks to you most right now?

What “wilderness” are you in?

Where might God be creating a river?

REFLECTION:

God doesn’t ask us to forget our past—God asks us not to be stuck there. Isaiah reminds us

that even in the driest seasons, God is already at work creating something new, even if we

can’t yet see it fully.

Is there a place in your life where you’ve felt stuck, discouraged, or dry?

Could that place be the very soil where something new is beginning to grow?

Sometimes the “new thing” is subtle—an idea, a shift in attitude, a sense of peace.

Sometimes it’s bold—a change, a step, a return. What might be springing up in you?

SCRIPTURE:

“I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?” — Isaiah 43:19 (NRSV)

This passage is not just about hope—it’s about attention. God is always at work renewing, rebuilding, restoring. The question is: are we paying attention?

PRAYER:

God of New Beginnings,

Open my eyes to the ways You are working

in my life.

Even when I feel tired or unsure, plant new

seeds of hope in me.

Help me release the old stories that no

longer serve me,

and trust the “new thing” You are doing.

Make rivers in my dry places,

and paths where I cannot yet see a way.

Amen.