Be Alert, Be Present!

Isaiah 43:19

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I have been trying something a little new for me.  

I have been listening to the Bible in The Message on Bible.com. So, this morning, while making chocolate chip cookies for our four grandboys, who are coming for a sleepover tonight, I turned on the app and began to listen.  

Listening to The Message has been a good exercise for me.

I don’t love everything about The Message, but it certainly has helped me think through what the Scriptures might be saying. Its everyday language makes it perfect for easy listening. 

It is one small tool in the toolbelt of someone who wants to know and understand the Scriptures.

This week, I was “reading” in Isaiah when a very familiar verse was read.  

“Forget about what’s happened;
    don’t keep going over old history.
Be alert, be present. I’m about to do something brand-new.
    It’s bursting out! Don’t you see it?
There it is! I’m making a road through the desert… Isaiah 43:19

Hearing this Scripture this morning- reminded me of the first time I read this verse-well, the first time I can remember reading it.  It seemed like yesterday, even though it was 46 years ago.  I can still see myself as a teen staring at those words in my Bible and thinking how amazing our God is to have such words in Scripture.  After reading them, I penned the words on a card I would leave for my mom to find when the time was right…. “Be alert, be present. I’m about to do something brand-new.”

My dad had passed away only a few months before at the age of 50.  His cancer had progressed quickly.  Only six months and many surgeries had passed since the doctors first gave us all the shocking news.  

My mom had just turned 48 at the time and was most certainly in the prime of her life.  But she didn’t feel like it was primetime. Her feelings told her life was over.  She had the three of us kids and was a full-time kindergarten teacher, but none of that seemed to fill that void left by my dad’s death.  I understand that better now that I have been married for 45 years.

A few days later, I could tell she had found the note. It was a note of hope, precisely what she needed: hope that God wasn’t done with her yet. She never said anything about that note, but years later, sorting through my mom’s things after her death, I found that very card. She had written the date on it and kept it—it must have been meaningful to her.  And all those years later, it was still as poignant and full of truth for me as it had been for her.  

God’s word can change us from unhopeful to hopeful and from unencouraged to encouraged. We can find solace and strength to give us the resilience to continue even when life is so hard.  

Today, you might need to read these words for yourself. 

Perhaps life has not been all that you expected it might be.  Maybe you have had more disappointment than you ever thought would come your way. 

Possibly today, God is reminding you, “Forget about what’s happened; don’t keep going over old history. Be alert, be present. I’m about to do something brand-new. It’s bursting out! Don’t you see it? There it is! I’m making a road through the desert…

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