Recognizing What God Is Doing

Following Jesus from the Edges
Pastor Calvin Cook
November 9, 2026

“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 43:19 (NIV)

This morning, as I sit quietly in prayer and reflection, I find myself thinking about all that God is doing around us. Not simply what I am asking Him to do, or what I am hoping He will do, but what God is already doing.

I wonder how often we miss the movement of God because we are so focused on what we believe needs to happen next. We move from situation to situation, meeting to meeting, dealing with drama, objections, distractions, and temptations. And right in the middle of it all, God is working, yet we “do not perceive it!”

We pray for answers. We pray for direction. We pray for healing, restoration, revival, and renewed strength. We ask God to open doors, change hearts, and make a way where there seems to be no way. Yet sometimes, while we are waiting for God to respond, He is already at work right before our eyes.

The question becomes: Are we recognizing what God is doing?

As someone who has always considered himself a visionary, Isaiah 43:19 has long been one of my favorite passages of Scripture. It speaks deeply to my heart, especially during seasons of uncertainty, doubt, and waiting.

The people of Israel knew what God had done in the past. They remembered His deliverance, His provision, and His faithfulness. But God was calling them to recognize that His work was not finished. He was doing something new, something they needed to open their eyes and hearts to recognize.

“See, I am doing a new thing!”

Notice that God doesn’t say, “Someday I might do something.” He says, “I am doing a new thing!”

God is already moving.

I believe one of the greatest challenges we face as followers of Jesus is learning to recognize the presence and activity of God in the ordinary moments of life.

We often look for something extraordinary. We want the unmistakable miracle, the experience accompanied by flashing lights or the sound of a loud trumpet blast. Perhaps we expect a voice to thunder from heaven, declaring, “Here is your answer to prayer!”

And certainly, God is capable of all those things.

But sometimes God’s movement is found in a conversation that opens a heart. A person returning to worship. Someone quietly surrendering a burden. A relationship beginning to heal. A small gathering of believers praying together. A renewed desire to read Scripture. A person who, after years of wandering, begins asking questions about Jesus.

These moments may seem small to us, but they may be the beginnings of something far greater than we can imagine.

Recently, I had the opportunity to meet with a group of young adults in their thirties who have a genuine desire for revival and renewal. They long to see God move in their generation, their community, and their church. There was something refreshing and encouraging about hearing their passion and recognizing their hunger for something deeper.

Yet, as I listened, I also sensed their frustration. They feel constrained, not necessarily because God isn’t moving, but because others struggle to recognize, embrace, or even imagine the new thing God may be doing.

That conversation has stayed with me.

I wonder how often we become so comfortable with what God has done in the past that we struggle to recognize what He wants to do in the present.

We celebrate yesterday’s victories, remember yesterday’s ministries, and hold tightly to yesterday’s methods. There is certainly value in remembering God’s faithfulness. But what happens when our attachment to the familiar keeps us from recognizing the unfamiliar ways God may be working today?

Could it be that we are praying for revival while resisting some of the very things God is using to bring renewal?

I am becoming increasingly convinced that we need to spend less time telling God what we think He should be doing and more time asking Him to help us recognize what He is already doing.

That requires humility. It requires patience. It requires a willingness to surrender our expectations, our preferences, and even our carefully developed plans.

And it requires faith.

Perhaps the greatest evidence of God’s movement isn’t always found in something changing around us, but in something changing within us.

A deeper hunger for holiness. A growing compassion for others. A renewed burden for those who do not know Jesus. A willingness to go where God leads, even when the road is unfamiliar.

I don’t want to become so occupied with doing the work of God that I fail to recognize the God who is doing the work.

Today, I am asking the Holy Spirit to open my eyes. To help me see beyond the difficulties, distractions, and demands of life. To recognize His presence in places I might otherwise overlook. To give me the wisdom to discern His movement and the courage to follow, even when it challenges what I have always known.

Maybe God is doing something new in your life today. Maybe it hasn’t fully developed. Maybe you cannot yet explain it or understand where it is leading.

But don’t dismiss the small beginnings.

God is still calling. God is still restoring. God is still transforming lives. God is still raising up people with a passion for His Kingdom. God is still building His Church.

And perhaps our greatest responsibility today is not to create something new for God, but to recognize where He is moving and faithfully join Him there.

The question is not simply whether God is doing something new.

The question is whether we are willing to recognize it, embrace it, and follow Him into it.

Lord, open our eyes to recognize what You are doing. Give us hearts willing to follow, courage to respond, and faith to trust You even when we cannot see the whole picture. Forgive us when our expectations, preferences, or fears keep us from recognizing Your movement. Help us not simply to remember what You have done, but to rejoice in what You are doing today. And when You call us to join You, may our answer be yes. Amen.