New Beginnings – a reflection for Advent

Alt: Bright pink flowering cactus in a desert.

Image credit  @djthoms

“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 43:19 (NRSV)

The immediate context of this passage in Isaiah is God’s promise to the Babylonian exiles that He will restore their fortunes, despite their disobedience, and bring them back to Canaan as their Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. He reassures the exiles that He will be with them within and through their sufferings (Isaiah 43:2). He will not only restore them but make them a light to the nations so that all the world may be saved.

This Scripture passage is often used in Advent to signify that God is doing a new thing for His people, for His praise and glory. He is the Creator, Sustainer and Redeemer of all, through His Son our Lord Jesus Christ (Ephesians 1:3-10).

Therefore we (in our own day) can take heart and have hope for healing and forgiveness and restoration, even in the most difficult parts of our lives.

As we go through Advent in the run up to Christmas, reflecting on the miraculous birth of Christ our Lord and awaiting the second coming of the Messiah, may the God of new beginnings be with us and give us His blessings if we but follow Him.

Amen.