The Prophet Isaiah, speaking for God says:  "I am about to do 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.  The wild animals will honor me, the jackals and the ostriches; for I give water in the wilderness, rivers in the desert, to give drink to my chosen people, the people whom I formed for myself so that they might declare my praise."
   This is such a beautiful picture of God's activity in our world.  God is not standing far off letting the world run amuck.  Nor is God waiting for us to make the right decisions as a church, or to do this new thing ourselves.  God is promising to do a new thing in the world, regardless of what we do.  God is active and acting in our world and in our lives, just as in the time of the Prophet Isaiah.
   But for some reason, many of us have trouble recognizing God's actions in our lives.  I think that our world has become so cynical about God and issues of faith, that it is hard to believe in the possibility of God acting in our lives.  But, when we stop and think about it, with our hind-sight, we can look back in our lives at times that God must have been hard at work.
   Most times when we do recognize God's presence and actions in the present tense, it is because something has happened to draw our attention to God.  Unfortunately, this is usually an accident or other traumatic experience.  We just don't pay attention to God's presence and actions on a regular basis.  Not paying attention to God or God's actions can have another result.  When we are not expecting God to do anything new in our lives, we are not looking for opportunities for God to be at work, and we are not looking for opportunities to be involved in God's work. 
  On the other hand, when we live with expectation of God's presence and actions, we live in