BLESSED in DESPAIR – A Devotional From the Edges from Isaiah 43 –

Blessed in DESPAIR
Pastor Calvin Cook
March 28, 2025

Scripture focus : Isaiah 43:1–2, 18–19

If you are like me, there are times we feel stuck. This happens in our physical lives and more than we would care to admit in our Spiritual lives. If we are being honest with ourselves, the effect on our spiritual life is what is affecting everything else. We feel stuck, isolated and that God neither likes us much less loves us or even cares about us. We feel as if God is withholding blessings and the hope we are so desperately in need of. Again, we are people of blame and do not desire to take any of the responsibility for this and for other things that are gnawing at our soul.

If any of this is resonating with you this morning, first, know you are not alone. Here is the good news:

“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you…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?”
— Isaiah 43:1–2, 18–19 (NIV)

I feel the Holy Spirit speaking these following thoughts into my heart this morning and sharing for the one who needs to hear this:
God isn’t waiting for the storm to pass to bless you— God is walking with you through it.

God is not asking you to be strong enough, perfect enough, or put-together enough. However, God is asking you to receive that which is being given to you.

God is simply asking you to look—to perceive the new thing that God is already doing in your life.

I know we all have something going on and maybe without knowing we are seeking and prayerfully asking for deliverance. But, what if the greatest blessing isn’t the breakthrough, but God’s presence in the middle of the struggle?

Are you clinging to how God moved in the past and missing how God is moving right now? “Can you not perceive the new thing I am doing?” That is a question God is asking!

Could it be that your wilderness is the very place God wants to show you truly how powerful God is?

God will make a way in your wilderness and bring streams into your dry places.

You don’t have it all figured out—just open your eyes and heart to receive what God is already doing.

One final thought – When the Disciples went to see Jesus in the tomb only to find it empty, the only thing they found was the death clothes left behind. To experience resurrection what ever it is we need resurrected from we must get rid of our death clothes. We are not dead, life is not over, we have been resurrected to new life, may we receive all that God wants to do in our life and the unrecognized blessings that are happening every day in our life.

Prayer: Lord, thank You that I belong to You. Thank You for walking with me through the deep waters and the fire. Help me to let go of what’s behind and open my heart to the new thing You’re doing. Give me eyes to see Your blessings—even in the wilderness. In Jesus’ name, Amen.