God Will Make a Way

Devotional

Day 1: Scrapping the Plan When the Oxygen Tank Explodes

When Apollo 13’s mission shifted from moon landing to survival, engineers abandoned old blueprints to invent new solutions. God often reroutes our lives through unexpected crises, demanding we release familiar strategies. Clinging to what worked before can blind us to His creativity in chaos. Just as the crew trusted ground control’s new instructions, we’re called to surrender our plans to the One who engineers rescue. The wilderness of uncertainty becomes a classroom for divine improvisation. [01:12]

“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. 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.” (Isaiah 43:18–19, ESV)

Reflection: What “oxygen tank” has exploded in your life, requiring you to release a plan you’d tightly held? Where might God be inviting you to trust His problem-solving over your own?

Day 2: When Red Sea Memories Blind Us to New Streams

Israel’s deliverance through the sea became a monument they idolized, numbing them to God’s fresh work in Babylon. Nostalgia for past breakthroughs can chain us to outdated expectations. God’s faithfulness isn’t limited to repeating history—He authors new redemption stories. The same power that split seas now carves rivers in deserts, if we’ll lift our eyes from yesterday’s miracles to today’s possibilities. [09:06]

“He who made a way through the sea, a path through the mighty waters, who drew out the chariots and horses, the army and reinforcements together—they lay there, never to rise again, extinguished, snuffed out like a wick.” (Isaiah 43:16–17, ESV)

Reflection: What answered prayer from your past have you turned into a demand for how God “must” act now? How could this mindset be hiding His current work?

Day 3: Tapping the Blinking Light in Aisle Nine

Like the Walmart app’s blinking labels, God often highlights solutions in overlooked places. John the Baptist, imprisoned and doubting, needed reminders of Jesus’ healing works to renew his faith. Spiritual perception grows not through crisis-free living, but by tracing God’s fingerprints in mundane or painful moments. The “blinking light” might be a whispered Scripture, a friend’s encouragement, or quiet growth in character. [18:19]

“Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them.” (Luke 7:22, ESV)

Reflection: What “blinking light” have you ignored this week—a small grace or subtle shift—that might be God’s handiwork? How could naming these sharpen your spiritual sight?

Day 4: Thirsty in the Desert Where Streams Begin

Miracles start where human resources end. Israel’s wilderness became the canvas for God’s river-cutting artistry. Our wastelands—financial strain, relational fractures, silent heavens—are not signs of abandonment but setups for divine intervention. The ache of thirst precedes the miracle of streams. What feels like God’s absence is often His preparation to reveal provision that can’t be mistaken for human effort. [28:14]

“I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.” (Isaiah 43:19, ESV)

Reflection: What desert place have you been begging God to remove you from? How might He want to meet you there rather than rescue you from it?

Day 5: Through the Fire, Not Around It

God rarely detours us around trials but walks with us through them. The promise isn’t exemption from floods or flames but preservation within them. Like Shadrach’s companions, we’ll smell smoke but emerge unburned, carrying the scent of Christ’s presence. Our survival testifies that the God who parts seas also sanctifies suffering. [30:51]

“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.” (Isaiah 43:2, ESV)

Reflection: What “fire” are you walking through that feels endless? How might Jesus’ companionship in it be as miraculous as deliverance from it?

Sermon Summary

Isaiah 43 begins with God naming himself as the One who “made a way through the sea,” the One who opened the Red Sea and snuffed out Pharaoh’s army “like a wick.” God brings Israel back to yesterday’s miracle, but then God says something that sounds strange: “Forget the former things. Do not dwell on the past.” The point is not that Israel should erase the Exodus from memory. The point is that Israel should remember God’s faithfulness without living there.

God speaks to a people headed into captivity because of sin. Israel will know loss, disappointment, despair, and life away from home. Israel will wonder if God has forgotten them. But God promises that captivity will not be the end of the story. God will bring them home, and God will make a way for them.

The Apollo 13 picture helps make the point plain. The original mission failed, but the men survived because mission control did not insist on the old plan. Something had changed, and the old plan would not get them home. Life can be like that. The believer can know what worked before, remember how God answered before, and then expect God to do it the same exact way again. But God is not out of ideas. God does not only have one set of miracles.

Yesterday’s miracle can become today’s limitation when it becomes the standard for what God must do next. God says, “See, I am doing a new thing.” New wine needs new wineskins. The past has value, but the past is not home. Faith thanks God for yesterday and then walks with him into today.

Isaiah 43 also asks, “Do you not perceive it?” God can be working while his people are saying, “God, where are you?” John the Baptist knew Jesus, called him the Lamb of God, and still struggled in prison. Suffering can make sight blurry. Jesus did not shame John. Jesus pointed him to the activity of God: the blind see, the lame walk, the dead are raised, and good news is preached.

The wilderness and wasteland show where the new thing often appears. A way is needed where there is no road. Streams are needed where there is no water. A miracle begins with a need, and nobody likes the place that makes the miracle necessary. Yet God says that through the waters, through the rivers, and through the fire, his people will not go alone. God will make a way where there seems to be no way.

##

Key Takeaways

1. Yesterday’s miracle is not today’s limit God calls Israel to remember the Red Sea without dwelling there. The danger is not memory itself, but turning a past move of God into a rule God must follow forever. Gratitude becomes spiritually dangerous when it refuses to let God be fresh, free, and sovereign in the present. [10:59]
2. God’s new work must be perceived Isaiah’s question, “Do you not perceive it?” shows that God can be active while his people remain unaware. Pain, disappointment, and old expectations can all dull spiritual sight. Spiritual perception grows as time with God trains the heart to recognize his hand, even when the work is still small and only “springing up.” [18:56]
3. Suffering can blur true sight John the Baptist knew who Jesus was, but prison made him ask if another should be expected. Jesus answered by pointing John back to the works of God, not by crushing him for struggling. The activity of God becomes mercy for a weary faith that can no longer see clearly from inside the cell. [20:57]
4. Need becomes the place of miracle Isaiah’s wilderness has no road, and the wasteland has no water. God’s promise meets the exact place where human resources run out. The miracle is loved, but the place that makes the miracle necessary is usually resisted, even though that place may become the clearest display of God’s faithfulness. [28:57]
5. God is present in the through Isaiah 43 does not promise a bridge over the waters or a path around the fire. God says his people will pass through waters, rivers, and fire, but not alone. The hard place that feels like abandonment can become the very place where God’s nearness is most clearly seen.

## [30:33]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[00:16] - Isaiah 43, God Makes a Way
[01:12] - Apollo 13 and the Changed Plan
[04:50] - When Life Changes the Plan
[05:38] - Israel’s Captivity Is Not the End
[07:32] - Do Not Live in Yesterday’s Miracle
[10:59] - Remember the Past, Do Not Dwell There
[12:52] - New Wine Needs New Wineskins
[16:33] - Learning to Perceive God’s Work
[19:48] - John the Baptist in Prison
[23:48] - The New Thing Springs Up Small
[27:50] - A Way in the Wilderness
[29:31] - Through Waters, Rivers, and Fire
[32:34] - God Will Make a Way

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading

Isaiah 43:16-19

“Thus says the LORD, who makes a way in the sea, a path in the mighty waters, who brings forth chariot and horse, army and warrior; they lie down, they cannot rise, they are extinguished, quenched like a wick: ‘Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.’” [00:16]

Luke 7:22

“And he answered them, ‘Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them.’” [21:24]

Philippians 3:13-14

“Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” [15:04]

Observation questions

In Isaiah 43:16-19, what past act of God is named first, and what “new thing” does God promise after that? [08:49]
In Isaiah 43, what kinds of places are mentioned when God describes where he will work—sea, wilderness, desert, waters, rivers, and fire—and what does that show about the situations his people face? [29:51]
In Luke 7:22, what evidence does Jesus give to answer John’s question? Why is it important that the answer points to what is being seen and heard? [21:30]
What picture is created by the phrase “now it springs up,” and what does that suggest about how God’s work may first appear? [23:37]

Interpretation questions

Isaiah says, “Remember not the former things,” right after reminding Israel of the Red Sea. How should that be understood? What is the difference between remembering God’s faithfulness and dwelling in the past? [10:37]
“Do you not perceive it?” suggests that God may be at work while people do not recognize it. What kinds of things make spiritual sight blurry, and why can pain make that worse? [20:56]
John the Baptist already knew who Jesus was, yet he still struggled in prison. What does that reveal about mature believers and seasons of suffering? [20:15]
God promises a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland. Why does new mercy often show up in places of deep need rather than places of comfort? [28:57]

Application questions

Has there been a time when an earlier answer to prayer became the pattern expected for every new situation? What would it look like to thank God for that past help without demanding the same method again? [15:29]
Is there an area of life right now where the heart keeps saying, “It used to look different”? How might that expectation make it harder to notice what God is doing today? [14:53]
When life feels confusing or painful, is there a tendency to ask only, “God, where are you?” What might change if the prayer became, “God, what are you already doing that I have not noticed yet?” [24:08]
Spiritual perception grows with time spent with God. Which practices most help the group notice his hand—prayer, Scripture, worship, quiet listening, or something else—and which of those has been neglected lately? [25:56]
Is anyone in a “wilderness” season right now—feeling dry, stretched thin, or unsure how to move forward? What would it mean to look for God’s way in that exact place instead of only looking for a way out of it? [31:39]
God does not always take his people around the waters or the fire, but promises to be with them through it. In a present struggle, what would trusting his presence “through” the situation actually look like this week? [30:41]
If God’s new work sometimes begins small and is only “springing up,” what small signs of grace, change, strength, or hope might already be showing up in life right now? [23:48]

Sermon Clips

44s

#MiraclesStartWithNeed

“A miracle begins with a need. If God is going to make a way in the wilderness, first you have to be in the wilderness. And how many of you like being in the wilderness? None of us do. If God's gonna give you water in the desert, first you have to be in the desert, then you have to be really thirsty. Being thirsty in the desert, that's not a good place to be. If God's gonna calm the storm, first you've gotta be in the middle of a storm. If God's gonna heal your broken heart, first you have to have a broken heart. We don't like that. Right? We love the miracle. We just don't love the situation that makes the miracle necessary.”

54s

#NotAloneThroughIt

“Now I love the promise, of that verse, but what I don't love, honestly, what I don't love about that promise is that I wish that this verse said, I wish God had said, when you pass over the waters, I will be with you. I wish he had said, when you go above the rivers on a bridge or something, really strong bridge, then, they won't sweep over you. I wish God had said, when you walk around the fire, they they won't touch you. You won't be burned. That's the verse that I would have liked. That's not what God says. He says, when you go through the waters, when you go through the rivers, through the fire, that's a reality of life. And sometimes, you have to go through some things. But here's a promise. God says, you won't go through them alone.”

50s

#RememberDontDwell

“Now that can't mean that God want wanted them to erase these miracles from their memory. That's not what it means. In fact, later in Isaiah, he tells them, remember the former things. So what does he mean? I think the answer lies in the next phrase where he says, do not dwell on the past. In verse 18, do not dwell on the past. I think the word dwell helps us to understand it. Because the word dwell means to live. Right? You where you dwell is where you live. And so God is saying, remember what I've done, but don't live there. Don't live there. Remember God's faithfulness. Tell your children about my faithfulness. Thank me for and worship me for the miracles, but don't live there.”

Ask a question about this sermon

Solid Rock Church This sermon · AI assistant

What does forget the former things mean?

How can we perceive God's new work?

When should we stop living in the past?