Starting Something New
Every New Chapter Begins with God
“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
Starting college feels like starting over. Everyone tells you these are going to be the best years of your life. They tell you you’ll find lifelong friends, discover your purpose, and make memories you’ll never forget.
Sometimes that’s true. Sometimes it isn’t. Sometimes college feels exciting. Sometimes it feels lonely. Sometimes you walk across campus surrounded by thousands of people and still wonder where you belong.
Here’s what I’ve learned. It's possible to be standing in the middle of a new season while still living in the last one. You can be sitting in your first college class while replaying high school. You can be meeting new people while wishing old friendships hadn’t changed. You can be walking toward your future while constantly looking over your shoulder. And if you’re always looking behind you, you’ll have a hard time seeing what God is doing in front of you. That was God’s concern when He spoke through Isaiah.
Don’t Miss What God Is Doing
The people Isaiah spoke to had every reason to look backward. They remembered what they had lost. They remembered what life used to be. They remembered better days. God didn’t tell them their past didn’t matter. He simply asked them a question they had stopped asking themselves: “Do you not perceive it?” Can you see what I’m doing? Can you recognize the new thing growing in front of you? Because while they were remembering yesterday, God was already preparing tomorrow. I wonder how often we do the same thing. We become so focused on what ended that we overlook what God is beginning.
The Wilderness Isn’t Always a Bad Place
Isaiah says God makes “a way in the wilderness.” Most of us don’t want the wilderness. We want the destination. We want certainty. We want a five-year plan that unfolds exactly the way we imagined. But that’s rarely how God works. College can feel like a wilderness. It's unfamiliar. You don’t always know your people. You may question your major. You may wonder whether you chose the right school. You may struggle in classes that once came easily. You may even wonder where God is. But throughout Scripture, God has a habit of meeting people in the wilderness. Not after it. In it. The wilderness isn’t proof that God is absent. Sometimes it’s proof that He’s leading.
God Has Always Been in the Business of New Beginnings
God doesn’t define people by their worst chapter. Peter failed publicly. Jesus restored him. The Samaritan woman carried shame. Jesus gave her purpose. Ruth experienced devastating loss. God gave her hope. Their stories weren’t ignored. They were redeemed. Yours can be too.
What Chapter Are You Living?
Every semester feels like the beginning of another chapter. The question isn’t whether your life is changing. It is.
The question is whether you’ll recognize what God is doing while it’s happening. Because He is always at work. Sometimes quietly. Sometimes slowly. Sometimes in ways you don’t understand until much later.
Don’t spend so much time grieving the chapter that ended that you miss the one you're in right now. He is still making a way where you don’t see one. He is still bringing life to dry places. He is still doing a new thing.
The only question is… Will you notice it?
Reflection
What part of your past are you still carrying into this season?
Where does college feel most unfamiliar right now?
What new thing might God already be doing that you’ve overlooked?
How can you trust Him with this chapter instead of trying to write every page yourself?
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