Stepping into the New Normal
by Jessica Powell
On the wall of my home office hangs a beautiful, hand-lettered print containing words out of Isaiah 43:19: “See I am doing a new thing. Now it springs up, do you not perceive it?” And every time I look at it these days, I’m struck by how much those ancient words resonate with me, today.
We live in a time where “finding the new normal” has become a constant refrain as all over the world we search for ways to regain a little of what we’ve lost, to take back some of what an unexpected pandemic has taken from us.
We’re surrounded by “new.”
We’re surrounded by “new.” How we shop and dine out, go to school, interact with friends and family, gather in worship with our fellow believers—it’s all-new. And from what we can tell, it seems that life may never go fully back to the way it was. What is now new will soon become normal.
If I’m being honest, it’s a little disconcerting.
I’m sure there are some people who love change and would be thrilled to live in a world where everything was new all the time. I am not one of those people.
I’m the kind of person who at one time was so terrified of God doing a new thing in my life, I stuffed that print of Isaiah 43:19 away in a box where I didn’t have to look at it. Apparently I thought that hiding it would trick God into letting me keep the comfortable life I was enjoying? It’s possible that I’m also the kind of person who tends towards the over-dramatic, but that’s beside the point.
The reality is, most of us range from being uncomfortable, at the least, to feeling down right terrified when we start to sense that something new might be coming.
New is scary because new is unknown.
Will this new thing require stepping out of my comfort zone? Will I have to let go of something I love? Do something I’ve never done before and might fail at? Face old pain and struggles that have been long buried in my heart?
Those are just a few of the questions that swirl around in my head at the thought of God doing something new. Your questions might be different. But in the years since my “hide the scary verse in a box” phase, I have learned that every single one of them fades away when we focus instead on answering one most important question.
Do I trust the One who is doing the new thing?
That is a question worth wrestling to the ground because answering that question with an honest, resounding YES means declaring that the same God doing a new thing in us and around us is the same God who says He is for us. He is the Giver of every good and perfect gift and is so committed to loving us, He wouldn’t even spare His own Son. He is the God who does more than we could ever ask or imagine and the Shepherd who leads us by quiet waters and only along the right paths.
And if we trust Him, then we can trust what He does—even when it’s new and unknown and scary.
I don’t know exactly what our “new normal” will look like for you. I don’t know what it will look like for any of us, but my hope and prayer is that it involves a growing of this kind of trust—the kind that sinks deep into our souls and enables us to stand firm in our faith even when we’re shaking with fear.
Because a new normal where we as the Church can confidently follow anywhere God leads? That’s a new normal worth stepping into.
Born and raised in the Toronto area, Jessica has now happily embraced life on the west coast in British Columbia where she lives and does ministry alongside her pastor husband and their three children. She has the privilege of working for Fellowship Pacific, leading communications and events to serve churches across BC and Yukon. Jessica is passionate about many things—including good books, baseball, great coffee and equipping people to be wholehearted followers of Jesus! Connect with Jessica on Instagram @jesspowell01 and Facebook jessic.powell.3363