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Devotional

Hidden Refreshment

by HOLLY PENNINGTON REFRESH Burn out Expectations Hope
Hidden Refreshment
  • by HOLLY PENNINGTON
  • Comment
“Now I am revealing new things to you, Things hidden and unknown to you, Created just now, this very moment. Of these things you heard nothing until now. So that you cannot say, oh yes, I knew this.”
Isaiah 48:6-7

Suddenly, there was a new way to go. Drive times to familiar places were trimmed down and routes we had traveled for years were traded for a newly built road through the forest. Despite knowing the throughway was in progress, it’s opening came as a surprise. I had no problem winding through less direct paths, no reason to need or choose an alternative to the old. In fact, if I didn’t happen to be traveling to a new address the morning after the road opened, if I didn’t sleepily follow Google Maps without much thought, I suspect habit would have trumped curiosity and I still would not know about the hidden treasure.


At the time, I was meditating on Isaiah 48, holding onto the possibility of hidden, unknown things and searching for them in my artistic processes. Inspired by Christine Valters Paintner’s The Artist’s Rule, I went slowly with these words from Isaiah, waiting with patience and expectation. The phrase, “created just now, this very moment,” excited me; I wondered what new things God would reveal as I planned compositions, mixed colors and bent brush hairs to paper. With newfound ambition to be present to the ordinary, I looked for God to surprise me in the everyday things I was already doing.


So, as I drove on the fresh pavement cut through land once filled with trees and spotted the pristine, narrow waterfall tucked away in a hill, my first thought, was “Of course!” God revealed a secret treasure that could only become known by traveling a new path, just as I was searching in the old for something new.


These days, I pass the waterfall regularly. The shorter path no longer feels new, but the anticipation of hidden treasure brings me great joy. The humble cascade is a symbol of Isaiah’s words, an example of God’s desire to refresh us with newness and a reminder that there is still so much unknown to us.


Closing Prayer
Thank you, God, for refreshing us in the ways you know we need, ways that go deep within us and endure. Set our hearts toward open expectation of the good, new things you want to reveal to us in your proper time. Shape us with your surprises as we go forward in trying new paths and traveling old ones. Amen.
Question for Reflection

What part of these verses from Isaiah will you commit to meditating on over the next days, week or weeks?

Comments
Holly Pennington
June 14, 2022

As an Enneagram 5, I like to know things! So, right now, the words “so you cannot say, oh yes, I knew this!” convict and challenge me. I commit to doing my best to meet each new day with more unknowing than knowing. And this will be hard for me!