God is constantly doing new things in our lives, but many of us fail to see it. Worse, some of us do see it but we fail to notice it's for our own good, and so we don't appreciate it.

Why does this happen? Why do we find it hard to appreciate the new things that God is doing in our lives?

It's because we still want the old things, what we're used to, what we're familiar with - sometimes even the very thing He called us out from!

Embracing the new

In Isaiah 43:18-21, God has given us one of the most amazing reasons to let go of the old and embrace the new things that He is doing.

""Do not remember the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing, now it shall spring forth; Shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. The beast of the field will honor Me, the jackals and the ostriches, because I give waters in the wilderness and rivers in the desert, to give drink to My people, My chosen. This people I have formed for Myself; They shall declare My praise."

God wants us to forget the old because of the immensely great new things that He is already doing, even for our own good. See, God wants us to praise Him, and all the new things that He is doing (listed above) is meant to provide for us, to satisfy us, to amaze us, all for His praise.

Familiar comforts

Many of us, however, don't want that. We want what we know. We want what sounds, looks, and feels familiar to us. We don't want to let go of what we've already tasted. Why is this?

Let's look at a parable that the Lord Jesus Himself spoke:

"And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine will burst the wineskins and be spilled, and the wineskins will be ruined. But new wine must be put into new wineskins, and both are preserved. And no one, having drunk old wine, immediately desires new; for he says, 'The old is better.'"" (Luke 5:37-39)

The truth is, we find it hard to appreciate the new because we keep looking back to the old. We compare the taste, the feel, the sound, and the comforts of the familiar to the unfamiliar. We keep looking back to the old, fearing what might happen when we embrace the new.

Friends, this is one major reason why we are unable to appreciate all the new things God is doing in our lives.