New!

Isaiah 65:17 “See, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind.

Have you ever wanted a “do over” right in the middle of something? You look at the course you are taking and you realize that the end is not in your control, that it is all going wrong and you can’t do much to stop it. This is a horrible feeling.

We have friends whose grown adult children are choosing to walk off the edge of a cliff. Their anger and rebellion is sending their parents through the roof, helpless as the observe. But they can only stand by and watch. They have done the best they could. Now it is up the adult children. But boy is it hard to watch the train wreck happen.

I can imagine the Israelites in captivity wishing they had obeyed as they were marching across vast expanses of rugged terrain on their way to Babylon from Israel. They had been warned so many times. I bet those warnings came across their minds as they trudged those long miles. “If only we had listened” became the endless loop in their heads.

If only my father had bought the first stock of in what became the Poloroid Land Camera that was offered to him on the street corner in Boston. His life would have been very different. But that thousand dollars seemed like a million. So he didn’t buy.

Some people live in the world of regrets. Their outlook is one of half empty, or maybe all empty! They have a hard time even thinking about something going well. Their lessons in life have taught them to be pessimistic. Other people, and even their own choices, reinforce again and again, that life stinks. They learn that if anyone is going to get a raw deal, it will be them.

So the get up and go to the “Raw Deal” store and get their helping for day. And they eat it and complain about the menu.

I am sure there were plenty of complainers in the Exile crowd. Many didn’t take responsibility for their own predicament. They blamed God, others, the weather, the enemy. But the LORD knew their hearts.

There were also some in the Exile crowd who had served the LORD faithfully, and they got caught in the judgement along with those who had rebelled. But I bet their attitude was better. They had heard, and they had probably joined in with the LORD’s admonitions to get right. So they know the faithfulness of the LORD for themselves.

We are living in a world that we didn’t choose. Adam & Eve chose it for us. They rebelled and we were sent, along with them, to an exile. We live in a world where sin has taken a grave toll on humanity and the planet itself.

But there are some of us who know this. We have repented and entered into a relationship with our Creator and are making a positive difference in our world. We have changed course.

And yet, the world hasn’t been restored to the intended Garden habitation of humanity. But one day, it will be restored. This is the promise of the Scriptures. From the moment of the Fall, the LORD has painted a picture for His people of what this renewed world would look like.

A new heaven and a new earth. I can hardly wait!