BEHOLD THE NEW!

I watched a large group of egrets descend into the cane ground, as the harvester ploughed through the canes. I pondered to myself, ‘How do they know? Where do they suddenly appear from? What senses do they use to be aware that this morning they would be fresh ground and therefore fresh food? These egrets have the uncanny ability to locate the new! They know the When, the Where, the How to uncover a freshly, previously undiscovered banquet of insects etc.

It is the heart of God for us to BEHOLD the New Things that He is doing in our lives at this time. As the animal kingdom has been granted the use of their natural senses to know how to instinctively flow, so we have been given spiritual senses to do the same, we humans must have that capability to Behold the New IF we allow the Holy Spirit to govern our lives.

Today’s main verse:

Behold, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs forth; do you not perceive and know it and will you not give heed to it? I will even make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.

Isaiah 43:19

What does it mean to BEHOLD anyways?

To BEHOLD in the bible can be translated: to be aware of

• to be sure to see,
• to know
• to possess information
• to recognise, to understand
• to be able to use knowledge
• BEHOLD means “Do not miss this!”

The Message Bible puts it this way “Be Alert and be present”  God is about to do some Brand New Things and it is essential that we BEHOLD them.

What happens if we do not behold?

Not beholding the things of God can lead to serious spiritual and by extension life repercussions.

Some of these are:

1. When we do not Behold what God is doing: We may think that He is not working OR not working enough, and this can lead to frustration, annoyance, grumbling, and complaining, and none of these things are of God. Who actually instructs us in Philippians 2:14 NOT to grumble or complain.
2. When we do not Behold what God is doing: We may start to using our very powerful tongues and to speak death to the ‘New Things’ that are in the works. (I encourage you to meditate on Proverbs 18:20-21)
3. When we do not Behold what God is doing: We may not co-labour with Him in the development of these New Things; (1 Corinthians 3:9) and it is essential that we play our part to see the manifestation of the New
4. When we do not Behold what God is doing: We may not know what to say yes to and what to say no to. Awareness of the New Purposes and Divine Assignments coming forth refines our focus! It defines where we spend our time, who we hang out with and what we listen to and watch; and it articulates the focus areas for our Spiritual and Personal Development!

What stops us from beholding?

Oftentimes we completely miss what the Lord is doing in our lives and in the lives of those we are in covenant bonds with. Let’s chat about 2 of the Main Reasons we do not see what God is doing.

Reason 1

The first reason we often miss what the Lord is doing is because ‘the New’ does not look like what we expected!

The greatest example of this is the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. The Israelites were expecting the NEW KING that had been prophesied centuries before. BUT they were not looking for this King to be born in a smelly manger, they didn’t expect to know him as a child running around, they didn’t expect Him to eat with sinners. They did NOT BEHOLD the promised King when He was right there walking amongst them. So much so that they plotted and killed him. 

For [the Servant of God] grew up before Him like a tender plant, and like a root out of dry ground; He has no form or comeliness [royal, kingly pomp], that we should look at Him, and no beauty that we should desire Him.

Isaiah 53:2

So sometimes we don’t behold the ‘new’ because we have preconceived notions of what it would look like!

Reason 2

The second main reason why we do not behold, is because We are looking for the Large and Monumental, and we miss the New things that start the size of a man’s hand.

Let’s look at the story in 1 Kings 18 where the Prophet Elijah’s servant was asked to look out for the rain: (by the way I highly recommend reading the entire chapter 1 Kings 18, it is fascinating and enlightening!)

And at the seventh time the servant said, A cloud as small as a man’s hand is arising out of the sea. And Elijah said, Go up, say to Ahab, Hitch your chariot and go down, lest the rain stop you. In a little while, the heavens were black with wind-swept clouds, and there was a great rain. And Ahab went to Jezreel.

1 Kings 18:44.45

What had happened was: In 1 Kings 18:11 the Prophet was told by God that He would send rain upon the earth, this was in years of drought.  The prophet heeded and prophesied that there would be a sound of Abundance of rain in verse 41. 

I am sure that Elijah’s servant must have felt quite frustrated and maybe even annoyed going 6 times and seeing not even a raindrop. BUT Elijah was praying and had faith in what was to come. And God was faithful!

In order to despise not the small beginnings, and not miss out, we have to follow Elijah’s pattern here:

1. Know what the Lord has said
2. Prophecy! Decree and declare what God said
3. Pray and never give up
4. Rejoice when even the slightest hint of the ‘New’ shows up!
5. Hitch up our garments and RUN!

Let’s look out for our tiny clouds!