God is writing the next chapter

Have you ever thought about your life as a book being written? Not by you, but by someone who already knows how every chapter unfolds, from the first page to the last?

Our lives aren't random collections of events strung together by chance. They're carefully crafted stories, complete with chapters that mark different seasons—some filled with joy and abundance, others marked by difficulty and uncertainty. The remarkable truth is that God is the author of your story, and He's writing it with purpose, love, and an ending you cannot yet see.

When You're Living in Captivity
Isaiah 43 was written for a generation of Israelite's who would find themselves living in Babylon, far from home, wondering if God had abandoned them. Imagine being born in captivity, never knowing your homeland, only hearing stories about it from your parents. You'd know your people were there because of their sin—their persistent worship of false gods despite God's warnings. But the haunting question would remain: Is this where our story ends?

For anyone sitting in the rubble of their own "Babylon"—whether that's the consequence of poor choices, unexpected tragedy, or simply a season of profound difficulty—this question feels painfully relevant. Has God given up on me? Is my story over?

The answer thunders back from Isaiah 43:1: "But now, this is what the Lord says—He who created you, Jacob, He who formed you, Israel: Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine."

The Author Who Knows Your Name
God didn't bring the nation of Israel into existence only to discard them when they failed. He formed them deliberately, starting with one man—Abraham—and building an entire nation through his descendants. The same God who called Abraham out of his homeland, who made promises to Isaac, who wrestled with Jacob, was still their God, even in captivity.

This matters profoundly for your life today. God didn't save you, redeem you, and call you by name only to abandon you when life gets hard or when you make mistakes. You are His. That identity doesn't change based on your circumstances or even your faithfulness.

When You Pass Through the Waters
"When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze" (Isaiah 43:2).

Notice the language: "when you pass through"—not "if." God doesn't promise to keep us from every difficulty. He promises something better: His presence in the midst of it.

The Israelite's could remember when God parted the Red Sea, when He made a way where there was no way. But here's what's crucial to understand: sometimes we experience God's presence without feeling it. There will be chapters in your life when you won't sense God's nearness, when you won't see the pillar of cloud by day or fire by night. That's when faith must anchor you to the truth that whether you feel it or not, He is with you.

Your perspective on your circumstances changes dramatically when you accept by faith that God is present, even when He seems silent.

The Danger of Dwelling in the Past
Here's where Isaiah 43 takes an unexpected turn. After reminding the Israelite's of His past deliverance—the parting of the Red Sea, the drowning of the Egyptian army—God says something surprising: "Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past" (Isaiah 43:18).

Wait. Shouldn't we remember what God has done? Absolutely. But there's a critical difference between remembering and dwelling.

When we dwell in the past, we get stuck there. We start expecting God to work in our lives today exactly as He worked yesterday. We compare every new chapter to previous ones, measuring God's current activity by past experiences. This can lead to disappointment when God chooses to do something different, something new.

If you're always looking for God to part the Red Sea again, you might miss the fact that this time He's raising up a Persian king named Cyrus to issue a decree of freedom. Same God, same love, same faithfulness—completely different method.

See, I Am Doing a New Thing
"See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?" (Isaiah 43:19).

God doesn't repeat Himself because He doesn't need to. Each chapter of your life requires something different from you and reveals something new about Him. The season of difficulty you're walking through now won't look like the last one. The way He provides for you today may be completely different from how He provided five years ago.

This is why you can't get comfortable with your current chapter, even if it's a good one. Growth requires change. Spiritual maturity demands that we keep moving forward, trusting God to write the next chapter even when we can't see what it contains.

The God Who Blots Out Your Transgressions
Perhaps the most stunning statement in Isaiah 43 comes in verse 25: "I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more."

God doesn't excuse Israel's sin. He acknowledges it clearly. They burdened Him with their sins and wearied Him with their offenses. But—and this is the gospel in the Old Testament—He chooses to blot out their transgressions for His own sake.

Whatever chapter you're in right now, whether it's a consequence of your own choices or something completely beyond your control, God hasn't stopped writing. The story isn't over. He is still your Redeemer, still the Holy One who calls you by name.

What Chapter Are You In?
Take a moment to consider: What chapter of your life are you living right now? Is it a season of blessing, where everything seems to be going well? Or is it a season of difficulty, where you're struggling to see God's hand at work?

Here's the truth that should anchor you: God is already writing your next chapter. He knows what's coming. He's preparing you for it. And most importantly, He's writing Himself into your story—not as a distant observer, but as an active participant in every scene.

You may not recognize His presence in every moment. You might miss His hand at work because you're looking for Him to show up the way He did before. But He is there, doing something new, something good, something that will ultimately draw you closer to Him.

The story isn't over. The Author is still writing. And He knows exactly how to bring every chapter together into a beautiful, redemptive whole.

Trust Him with the pen.