 Weekly Devotional |
September 8, 2026 · Anne Barkley |
Scripture focus: “Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.” |
God is doing something new—in us, for us, and through us. His new work calls us to release what is behind, trust Him with what lies ahead, and recognize His hand even when we cannot yet see the path clearly. |
God majors in new beginnings throughout His Word. |
In Isaiah 43:19 God announces, “Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.” |
Jesus speaks of the new commandment in John 13:34 and a new covenant in Luke 22:20. In Revelation 21:5 the Lord says, “Behold I make all things new.” |
The “new thing” is characterized by Divine intervention in impossible situations, symbolized by creating new pathways. God is actively redeeming brokenness and bringing about renewal that surpasses previous deliverances such as the Exodus. |
The new work is already “springing forth” and unfolding in the present tense, not just a future event. |
We as believers are challenged to actively “perceive” or “see” God’s work, which may require shifting focus from past pain to current grace. |
Verse 18 that precedes Isaiah 43:19 says, “Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old.” |
2 Corinthians 5:17 instructs us, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold all things have become new.” |
God wants to do something new in us, for us and with us but it requires personal surrender and transformation. The only way we can embrace what God has ahead of us is by letting go of what is behind us. |
There is a sifting happening. |
We must prepare ourselves for what God is about to do! |
LET GO OF WHAT IS BEHIND YOU |
Dr. Stanley puts is this way, “The truth is, God took the chains off your life the day you were saved, but you’re still trying to make it through life the best you can. Just drop your hands and relax and rest in the liberty purchased by the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son.” |
Life in Christ is always in progress. |
Letting go of the past in scripture involves casting anxieties on God, embracing His forgiveness, and focusing on future hope rather than dwelling on former things. |
We must take every thought captive and bring it into submission to the Lord. It is a time of renewing our minds by the washing of the Word. (Rom. 12:2) |
Letting go means trusting in God and surrendering to Him with all our heart rather than leaning on our own understanding. (Proverbs 3:5-6) |
In other words, we have to ask God for help in everything we face knowing that He knows every detail of our life and circumstance. |
We don’t have to figure it all out but trust Him to help us turn and keep turning to Jesus. |
I Peter 5:7 encourages us to cast all our anxiety and worry on Him because He cares for us. |
We know that forgiveness from God is achieved only through faith in Jesus Christ and repentance, rather than through earning it via good works. |
Forgiveness is a free gift of grace secured by Jesus’ death and resurrection who paid the penalty for all sin. |
To receive this forgiveness, the process involves three key actions: |
Confession—Honestly admitting sins to God without hiding them, as described in I John 1:9 and Psalm 32:5. |
True Repentance—Turning away from sin and changing one’s mind and direction to follow God. |
This involves thinking about what we are thinking about—taking every thought captive according to 2 Cor. 10:5 and recognizing unhealthy or untrue thoughts and rejecting those that contradict biblical truth. |
There is a spiritual battle going on in our minds as Satan seeks to hold us captive through lies. We must rely on the Holy Spirit for power to transform our mind, rather than relying on human willpower alone. |
Faith—True faith is believing the Lord no matter what comes, no matter how life changes, even though we don’t have all the answers and never will, we choose to trust anyway. |
We are to walk by faith, not be sight. (2 Cor. 5:7) |
Dr. Stanley reminds us, “Struggling faith is not a sin. Struggling faith is part of our education; it’s part of the process. When we struggle with our faith and then we see God work, we move on from the stage of struggling, restless faith, and something begins to happen in our life and we move on.” |
A NEW THING—NEW PATHS & PERFECT TIMING |
God has declared, “Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?” |
We are to watch how God is moving by His Spirit as He brings things into His perfect order and taking the necessary measures to make things right. |
What He has determined to accomplish cannot be stopped by the plans of man! |
A move of God is coming; the likes of which we have never seen. Not just in America but all over the world. |
God foretold us in Scripture in Isaiah 45:22, “Look unto Me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God and there is none else.” |
The days of the prophet Habakkuk were days of spiritual decline in the nation, and he was perplexed over God’s permission of evil. |
Does it not relate to what we see occurring in our nation today? |
He laid his concerns out before the Lord. |
The Lord answered and said, “Look among the nations! Observe! Astonish yourself! Be astounded! For a work is being done in your days. You will not believe it if it were told.” |
The answer brought hope to the people when he said, “Behold, the puffed up one—his soul is not right within him, But the righteous will live by his faith.” |
This truth is echoed in the New Testament in Romans 1:16, Galatians 3:11 and Hebrews 10:38. |
Paul knew it is easy to get caught in the weeds of Christian living and he said, “But now faith, hope, love, abide these three.” |
When things are falling apart and we don’t know the way forward, we must cling to faith, hope and the greatest is love. |
We use the word hope to mean all kinds of things about the future: expectation, optimism, an earnest wish, sometimes even a long-shot dream. |
As Christians, Jesus is our Blessed Hope. |
Romans 8:11 assures us: “If the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.” |
In other words, we can see and experience our present circumstances differently because we know God is at work in them. |
We get to believe situations and people can be restored, revived, made new. |
Dr. Stanley encourages us further about God’s faithfulness: “Even in the midst of your circumstances that are painful and trying and hard, God is at work. And you’re thinking, ‘Well, I don’t see it.’ But just because you don’t see it doesn’t mean He’s not working. God is always at work.” |
Hope in God is a sure thing—an anchor for our souls! (Hebrews 6:19) |
Sometimes it is hard to see and understand the new things God is doing in our life or the new direction He is leading us down. |
Grasping that may not change the immediate circumstance, but it gives us hope that God is doing something new. |
During these moments of uncertainty, may God help us to trust in Him and in His plan for our life. He has our best interests at heart, and even when we can’t see it, He is working out His plan for our good and His glory! (Romans 8:28) |
As we anticipate the new thing that God is about to do in our nation, the Church and personally, let us meditate upon three things: |
1 — You can’t drive forward looking out the rearview mirror, so embrace what is in front of you and don’t dwell on what’s behind you. |
2 — Since you don’t know what the future holds, you can trust in the One who holds your future. |
3 — Every new thing God desires to do in your life forces you to step outside your comfort zone, but when you step, you don’t step alone because He is with you. |
A SEASON OF GREAT TRANSITION |
This is a season of great transition, of great change for the people of God. |
Beginning in 2020 with COVID we went through times of stress, tests, lockdowns, and fear of the unknown. Indeed, it was a time of great darkness that loomed over our nation and the world. |
It might be compared to the biblical times of enslavement when the Israelites were in bondage in Egypt (black darkness). Their freedoms were taken away and were under the tyranny of the government. |
Like the Israelites, we carried some heavy things, things that might have broken others. |
As a nation we have experienced great losses in wars and rumors of wars, political upheaval, economic hardship, illnesses and recently the exposure of gross fraud, infiltration of the core values of our society, sexual deviants, crimes against humanity, child abuse and sex trafficking and the list could go on and on. |
Like the Israelites, we are moving from slavery into freedom both physically and spiritually. |
As believers we have God’s grace that carried us faithfully, even though it was hard, heavy, and exhausting. |
We did it because we were in pursuit of obedience to the Lord and His perfect plan! |
Now that President Trump had the nation rededicated to the Lord, he is in a way now the covenant mediator between the nation and Almighty God. That representation has to be in submission and accurate for one to stay in that position. |
Joshua and Caleb were at the forefront of leadership in conquering the Promised Land, but it was not by their power or strength that brought victory. |
The Lord spoke to them and said, “Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.” (Joshua 1:9) |
Likewise, it must be clear to the people that God is our Source. Trump is just the mediator of a now reestablished covenant in our nation declaring the return to “One Nation Under God.” |
The Israelites came out physically before they had been transformed internally. |
Likewise, we as a nation and people have to experience what it will be like when the nation is returned to the people. |
It’s about stepping into freedom. |
It’s about walking into the new territory. |
When the nation was rededicated to the Lord back in May 2026, that was the announcement before the nation that we were about to transition from wilderness to a national covenant battle for the land. |
As Amanda Grace so rightfully expresses it, “It was the announcement to the people of God that in their own lives, a plumbline was about to be dropped. This is running prophetically parallel in the church and the nation.” |
This is a season that we are coming into as the people of God. |
This season is going to be one of the most defining moments of our lives. We are at the threshold and the precipice of the breakthrough. |
The enemy knows this and that is why he is trying to make us fearful. |
Without a doubt, each of us attests that we are living in times of great pressure and discouragement. |
The enemy is trying to get us to grow weary, yield to the pressure and not to finish the personal refinement that we are about to finish so we can enter deliverance and transition into the new path and purpose God has laid out and ordained for us. |
We must align our hearts once again with the promises of God for our future! |
We must fix our eyes on Jesus the Author and Finisher of our faith and watch for new paths to open up, new opportunities to be presented to us, and new relationships to be formed. |
We must not fear the unknown route before us, because it will take us into a broad place that will “extend our tent pegs.” (Isaiah 54:2) |
We must allow the Lord to prepare us for moving forward into the new land! |
From our point of view today, the new route ahead may look narrow, as if our journey is leading us into greater isolation or some place that is limiting. |
But as we move forward, we will see that it is a broad place—a place of miracles, expansion, and fruitfulness. |
Watch what God will do as we merge onto this new path, this new roadway. |
Stay the course of transformation—great joy awaits you! |
Isaiah 43:18-19 • John 13:34 • Luke 22:20 • Revelation 21:5 • 2 Corinthians 5:17 |
Letting Go, Trust & Surrender |
Romans 12:2 • Proverbs 3:5-6 • I Peter 5:7 |
Forgiveness, Repentance & Faith |
I John 1:9 • Psalm 32:5 • 2 Corinthians 10:5 • 2 Corinthians 5:7 |
Isaiah 45:22 • Habakkuk 1:5 • Habakkuk 2:4 • Romans 1:16 • Galatians 3:11 • Hebrews 10:38 • Romans 8:11 • Hebrews 6:19 • Romans 8:28 |
Preserving Betty Jo Hardy’s devotional legacy and continuing the ministry through Anne Barkley. |
| From The Throne Ministry | A weekly devotional ministry continuing the legacy of Betty Jo Hardy through Anne Barkley. | You are receiving this devotional because you subscribed to From the Throne or previously requested to receive these messages. | |
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