new things.

"Behold, the former things have come to pass.  Now I declare new things; before they spring forth I proclaim them to you."  Isaiah 42:9

Am I the only one who's immediately transported back to circa 1993 when reading this verse?  Come on, don't pretend you don't know what I'm talking about.  If you were in any kind of youth group back then, you know everyone was all over dcTalk and sang "Nu Thang" with reckless abandon.  Or maybe that cassette was released before 1993, and I was just very slow with that trend.  Who knows.  Guess that's why I said "circa."  But I digress.  :o)

The first part of Isaiah 42 is a really awesome prophecy about Jesus (another reason why I love my New American Standard Bible; this version capitalizes pronouns attributed to the Trinity, so there's no confusion about who the writer is talking about!).  Jesus is described as God's chosen one (verse 1) who will "faithfully bring forth justice" (verse 3).

And how will he bring forth justice?  By opening the eyes of the blind and releasing captives from prisons (verse 7).  I used to read this in a literal way, but God has shown me lately that there are more ways to be blind than in a physical fashion, and there are myriad of internal or spiritual prisons that can hold us captive.

Really, until we find Jesus and trust Him with our lives, we are all blind to the fact that we need a Savior.  We can be blind to the needs of the poor or blind to patterns of sin in our lives.  Jesus came to open our eyes to these "spiritual cataracts" so nothing will blur our focus on Him and what He wants to do with us.  He trades our blind eyes for new eyes, in a way.

And we might find ourselves trapped in prisons of addiction, temptation, out-of-control emotions, or those same patterns of sin mentioned before.  I know one of my main "prisons" is depression.  God has had to release me from that prison again and again, and really it's only because of Him that I'm walking free of that today.  Jesus came to give us abundant life (John 10:10); a life in prison does not allow for any kind of abundance, unless it's an abundance of pain and regret.   With our release from prison comes a new lease on an abundant life, and the realization that as long as we're walking in-step with Jesus, there's no reason that we have to go back to our prison again. 

The best part is, God declares the "new things" He has in store for us before they even happen (check out verse 9 again)!.  Meaning He won't wait until your eyes have been opened or the prison door swings open to show you the promise He has planned out for you.  That's His blessing for us.  He may not reveal specifics, but He does offer the promise of new things again and again.  In the midst of our pain and darkness, He peels back the curtain just a bit to reveal the light on the other side, which illuminates the new things He wants to do in our lives if only we ask Him to help us see with new eyes and walk in new freedom.

Trust in Him.  He holds the salve for your blinded eyes and the keys to your prison cell.  He wants to do a new thing for you!