There are people in my life that I have know for years, but who are no closer to experiencing redemption through Christ. Month after month I pour myself into their lives, but I feel as if I am trying to create a lake by pouring one bucket of water each day onto a vast desert. It’s discouraging to watch the dry sand quickly soak up the water as if it was never there.
Then I read Isaiah 43:18-19: “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.” This verse is a good reminder that even if I do not “perceive it,” God is still at work “doing a new thing” in the lives of these people. The process of a heart change has begun, even if I do not notice.
On the surface, each bucket of living water I pour out quickly disappears into the dry sand, but below the dry surface the moisture continues to collect, creating the beginnings of a stream of life-giving water. While it seems my efforts to build Christ into the lives of these people is futile, the love of Christ is at work healing past hurts even if I cannot see it. My faith in God tells me he is making a new way, a stream of living water in a dry and parched land.
Retrospective: This post originally published December 6, 2017.
© 2017 CGThelen
140 Character Christian 
I can see that water collecting under the surface. When He makes a way, you will know that not even a drop you poured out was wasted. (His Word will not return void!)
Thank you for this beautiful reminder!
So true. Nothing is wasted in the Kingdom of God. Blessings.
I like your analogy. I’m one that believes if God has put someone in your heart or life, He is already at work calling them to Himself. One day, one day they will hear that call.