Something New

by Macy Johnson

“Is there anything of which one can say,

“Look! This is something new”?

It was here already, long ago;

it was here before our time.”

(Ecclesiastes 1:10 NIV)

 

There is nothing new under the sun. My husband, Jeff, reminds me of this in short history lessons. I have much to learn from former leaders. The stories remind me that human nature reaches for power and control. But it is God’s nature to give and not take – a new way of thinking for some.

 

Early Saturday morning before attending the Mudbug Madness festival, Jeff and I walked the deserted streets of Shreveport, Louisiana. We watched the purple martins swoop over the Red River and walked the streets he used to walk. Jeff worked in an accounting office downtown, with a window that overlooked the city. The buildings have deteriorated, with nothing new in sight.

 

We headed back to the hotel to meet up with our daughter and her family when two women approached us. “Do you know where we can get something to eat? Is there a café near here?” they asked. We had a long, friendly conversation with the women who had escaped California’s economy and now live in Texas. Their words reminded me God is working when what we see is falling apart.

 

God is lighting a path into the unknown. He reveals Himself in new ways. Every day something new springs up to remind me He is in control. Situations may be new to me, but they are never new to Him.

 

Even in my frustrations, I must be Christ’s light. The darkness will fall away and something new will be revealed. He only asks me to go and spread His light and hope to those who only see death and decay.

 

I will be something new in a tired, old world. I hope you will, too!