Isaiah 43:18-19 — Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.

In Lancashire, the English county where I was born, they say “there’s nowt so queer as folk”. A loose translation is “there’s nothing stranger than people”. It’s an undeniable truth! One of the things that’s strangest about us folk is the way we deal with change.
We get set in our ways. We complain ceaselessly about the frictions, bumps, scratches and bruises that we collect every day as we travel along those ways. Time for change right?
Wait! What? Say what? Did you say change? NOOoooooooo. No change. I want you to make things better … but don’t change things.
Now maybe you’re not the same as me, because I really don’t like change. I am conservative with a small “c”, I love tradition, I hate upheaval. Some people are the exact opposite. They love change, thrive on it, embrace it — but there’s a funny thing. Most people have something, some area of their life, that they can not and will not change.
This change thing might be one of the hardest things about this Christian life. I don’t know about you, but nobody told me that everything was going to change when I became a Christian, and that I had to be prepared to give up all control. It’s been a struggle. Some things were O.K. I was fine with letting go of the petty little dishonesties that the non-Christian world seemed to regard as normal social lubrication. I was fine (a little to my surprise) with stopping drinking. But I really struggled with giving up my right to lose my temper. I used to ENJOY letting people know how I felt! (I know, I’m not perfect, but I’m a lot better now, honest! Ask Myra)
God, though, is creative. He says “Behold, I make all things new.” And what does He say about this business of changing people? “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” (2 Corinthians 5:17)
The heart of these two verses from Isaiah say something very special about God’s creative process. “Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it?” The implication is that the seed of change is already sown, the change is coming … and we see that process so much in creation — there is sowing, and growing, and bursting forth. So it is with us when we become Christians — the Holy Spirit moves in, and the change starts … And change, you know it ain’t easy …