Day 46

A New Creation

from the Lent 2017: You Are Mine reading plan


Isaiah 63:15-19, Isaiah 64:1-12, Isaiah 65:1-25, Matthew 26:20-50

BY Annie Downs

Text: Isaiah 63:15-19, Isaiah 64:1-12, Isaiah 65:1-25, Matthew 26:20-50

A few nights ago, I threw myself down in my big fluffy chair to read Isaiah 65. It had been a long week with things going “differently” than I’d expected—meaning, EVERYTHING FELL APART. When days like these come to an end, all I know to do is make myself a cup of chai tea with almond milk, diffuse some essential oil that promises to ease all my stress, and sit down, Bible open, to whatever passage someone has encouraged me to read, just hoping it might make a difference in my attitude.

Those nights. You know the ones I’m talking about? The nights when you start spinning, thinking about how things could be going better, how life seems harder than it should be and isn’t exactly what you thought you were signing up for. As I read from Isaiah that night, I talked to God about what I was seeing on the page and how I longed for Him to show up.

Honestly, it’s not that I need Him to fix everything that feels broken in my life. Sure, sometimes I want a quick, easy fix to my problems, but I know what planet I’m living on. I know things here are hardly ever easy and never ever perfect. Jesus said it would be hard, but that He had overcome (John 16:33). Why don’t I remember that verse more often?

Trust me: there are plenty of nights when I just want to turn on Netflix and let episodes of Friends run back-to-back until even the screen seems to ask, “Are you still watching?” But this night was different. I knew I needed the quiet, not the noise or some other distraction. I knew I needed to connect with God, not pull away from Him.

It was a forced behavior, to be sure, but that happens in all relationships, doesn’t it? Moments when you want to isolate, but then you remember the commitment you’ve made, and somehow love leads you back toward relationship instead of running away from it.

So I drank my tea and I read. And there it was: New heaven. New earth. New.

Yes, I thought, I want NEW. I want a world where destruction—of places, of culture, of dreams and hearts and hopes—is barely a distant memory. I don’t know if it was God’s Word, the diffusing oils, or a combination of the two, but my heart started to calm down.

I think that’s what these pages and stories from Scripture are meant to do for the people of God—to remind us of what God is actively doing today and what He’s promised to do when He makes all things new (Isaiah 65:17). He is the One who answers even before we call. He is the One who acts while I’m still asking. He is the One who promises He’s present in any and all circumstances.

On that Tuesday night, before I’d even finished calling on Him, God answered me with peace and connection—with His very presence.

I think that will be the best part of the “new” that’s to come: God’s palpable and pervasive presence, uninterrupted by my sin or attitude or even Netflix. There’s so much about our eternity that is going to be beyond good, but being face to face with the God who hears and sees and answers and loves me completely? That’s the part I look forward to the most.

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Post Comments (57)

57 thoughts on "A New Creation"

  1. Evie says:

    I have to admit, I’m gonna miss this study so much. Now that we’re nearing the end, I just wanna start all over again because Isaiah is just so rich, and these reflections are so fitting and refreshing. praise the Lord for His word that is ever active and alive, and thank you SRT for your devotion to His work!

  2. Allison says:

    The part about Jesus answering before we call and acting while we’re still asking reminds me of something one of my pastors said during a Christmas Eve service. He was talking about how people were praying for the Messiah to come, not knowing the He had already come in the form of a baby. And the way he worded it was something about God answering our prayers before we even know He’s answered. And I love that idea. Thank God for the prayers He’s already answered!

  3. Vicki Macklin says:

    I felt like this devotion was written just for me and about me (I love how God works like that!). I too have had “one of those days” that have been hard and resulted in reactions and attitudes I am not particularly proud of…..ok, just plain ashamed of. But in His Word He reminds us that, “the past troubles will be forgotten and hidden from my eyes” and “we are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hands.” In days like today, I am reminded He is still molding me…He just needs to mold me more some days than others! I am so glad I found “She Reads Truth”….such a blessing and helping me get into His Word and letting it speak truth into my life!

  4. peanut cheese says:

    Thank you so much for today’s devotional. I have to say that I still haven’t gotten around to reading the passages – and that’s what it’s all about, but it already struck me because I’ve been fleeing from myself a bit too. And at the moment it feels like everything is about to fall apart. I still have some hope that it won’t, but the mere thought makes me run away from myself and having difficulty finding time. I’ll tidy all around me and then make that cup of chai (or whatever) and then try to properly read. In the meantime, can I ask you to pray along with me? I’m just feeling really edgy, insecure and fickle and need some real guidance, comfort and maybe some sort of a miracle.

    1. Emily B. says:

      Even if everything falls apart, don’t forget about “But God…” I pray He’ll be with your emotions and help you with whatever’s going on in your life.

  5. Julie says:

    Whenever I feel under stress or just need to relax I try to turn toward God. Sometimes it is my bible that I open, other times a music album with hymns or songs from scripture. It does bring peace, every time that I need it. Amen!

  6. Nydia Lugo says:

    This is what I needed to hear. I’m so grateful to have found this website. I pray it would strengthen my relationship with my heavenly Father.

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