Just Over the Horizon

Just Over the Horizon

“Forget the former things; do not dwell on
the past. Behold, I am doing a new thing.”
Isaiah 43:18-19

Sitting at a restaurant with friends last night, talking and waiting for our meals to arrive, we had no idea that an incredible storm, strong enough to knock over trees everywhere and to leave us without power for the last twelve hours and counting, was about to strike. In a matter of minutes, debris was flying through the air, visibility was gone because of the rain and wind, and a plate glass window in the restaurant’s door was blown out. We finished our dinner by battery powered lights and headed home to find streets flooded, fences knocked down, and the streets littered with leaves and branches. Candles and flashlights became our source of light as the twilight of evening transitioned into the darkness of night.

The suddenness of the storm is a sure reminder that we never know what lies just over the horizon in our lives. I can’t count how many times I’ve gone over the crest of a hill on the highway to find a massive traffic jam awaiting me “just over the horizon”. But I also remember the many times when the afternoon mail brought an unexpected, much needed blessing that changed our countenance faster than last night’s storm. This scripture really describes those experiences the best:

“Hezekiah and all the people rejoiced at what God had brought about for his people, because it was done suddenly.” (II Chronicles 29:36)

And the word of God contains other “suddenlies” to encourage us. In Acts 2:2 we’re told that “suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting.” In Acts 9:3, it says that in Paul’s Damascus Road experience, “suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him.” So often the work God is doing in our lives occurs over a long period of time, but just as often God moves suddenly to turn our mourning into dancing and to fill our circumstances with hope.

This morning, typing these thoughts by the fading battery power of my laptop, I am overflowing with the thought that God is about to do a new thing in your life, that you about to experience a “suddenly” from heaven that will fill you with joy and hope, that will cause you to overflow with expectation over all that lies “just over the horizon” in your life. God has promised to do a new thing in your life and now is the time for it to spring forth suddenly.

God Bless
Pastor Joe
Gateway Church