The Great Merge

A few years ago, God gave me a word.

Most people who know me, know of my word.
I've posted about it on Facebook.
I've written about it in blogs.
I've hung it on my Christmas tree.
I have it on a piece of decorative art.
It's a word that I will forever cling to.
And now, there is another.
I mentioned it in my last blog post.
This new word holds hands and joins up with my old word.
The old and the new.
Becoming one.

Joy and Hope.

The promise of hope was already given many years before the angels declared to the shepherds that there was "good news of great joy" in the birth of Jesus.
The Old Testament speaks to this hope.
Upon reminding His people of the great and mighty things He had already done for them, God said,

"But forget all that - it is nothing compared to what I am going to do. For I am about to do a brand new thing. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness for my people to come home. I will create rivers for them in the desert!" (Isaiah 43:18-19, NLT)

The New Testament is hope continued.
Hope that God is truly love.
Hope that God is good.
Hope that God gives us a bright, joyful future.
Hope that God has a mind-blowing plan for our lives.
A path in the the wild.
A river in the desert.
A hope that merges with joy.
A merge that we can bring into this new year, into every new day.

I find it amazing that God said, "But forget all that ... ". referring to the crazy-mind-blowing events of rescuing His people out of the evil grip that the Egyptian Pharaoh had on the Israelites in Moses' day. That was a pretty phenomenal rescue mission. (See Exodus 14 in the Bible.)
And God says, forget all that; now see what I am going to do.
Shivers.
The image of Him standing there as He speaks, giddy with excitement, radiating hope-filled anticipation as the twinkle in His eye looks upon His loved ones.
He already knew of the Great Rescue Mission that would occur all those years later.
The Joy-Hope Mission.
The Salvation Mission.
Jesus.

And so there is hope.
In a new year.
In a new day.
Joy in the journey, hope in the daily.

It's about God doing a new thing.
It's not about me doing a new thing.
And that is kind of a relief.

"Behold," He whispers to my soul.
"I am doing something here. Something new. Something great. Behold. Wait. Trust. Hope. This is a new year, a new day, a new time."