Scripture for Today: Isaiah 43:19  “See, I am doing a new thing!  Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?  I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.”

We have friends who are “desert rats!”  They are drawn to the remote immense spaces.  No matter that it is often dry and uninhabitable.  There is something about its harsh beauty that allows one to breathe after the congestion of the city.

It is always surprising to see flowers bloom on a cactus in the desert.  Its spiny surface seems incongruent with the fragile beauty of a flower petal.  Our God is so creative to plant something so delicate where we least expect it!

Our verse for today encourages us to look and see what God is doing.  We could miss it.  Because the cactus flower often opens with the sunlight but closes with dusk, passing by its beauty is easy to do!  In the same way, we can pass by unaware of what new thing God is creating.  He makes a way in the wilderness and streams in the wastelands.  He makes something beautiful in a dry barren place.

It is too easy to see only the negative.  I need to watch for what new thing God may be creating in me or in my circumstances.  Am I looking for that good He promises in Romans 8:28 or have I become accustomed to seeing only the trial?  Have I settled for something less than what God had intended for me?

Open the eyes of my heart Lord, so I can see the bigger picture of what You want to accomplish!  If it is good and beautiful I know it is Your doing!  Thank you, Lord, that no trial or pain is beyond Your reach to produce something positive and wonderful!