Say No to Spiritual Routine: God Has Something Fresh for 2026

Introduction

"Another year of routine?" That's the question Samuel Mabboux, pastor of SOS Church in Nice l'Ariane, puts to his congregation as 2026 dawns. It's a question for you too. Maybe you're stepping into this new year with a kind of resignation: "What's the point, nothing's going to change, it'll be just like 2025." Maybe you've gotten used to recycling your spiritual life the way people buy a used car.

But God wants to do something new. Not recycled, not reheated. Fresh, tailor-made, never seen before. Drawing from Isaiah 43, this message invites you to step out of spiritual fatalism and believe that God has a word right now, for you, in 2026.

Outline of the message

1. "Now the Lord speaks": God has a word for you today

The text opens with a word that Samuel Mabboux takes time to weigh: now. "But now the Lord who created you, Jacob... says" (Isaiah 43:1). God has spoken before. He spoke in 2025. He will keep speaking in 2027, until Christ returns. But what matters to you tonight is that he wants to speak now.

Give thanks for what he did in the past. Thank him for your conversion ten, twenty, or thirty years ago. But don't settle there. What do you want that's new, today? What fresh thing are you longing for in your testimony, your prayer life, your relationship with him? God wants to do something new in you in this season.

2. "Don't remember the former things" (Isaiah 43:18)

The pastor drives the point home: God is not the God of the past. Some people live on a loop of yesterday's wounds. They tell their story as if they were still the little girl or little boy of forty years ago. Trauma is real, scars are real, and no one should treat them lightly. But if you belong to the Lord, you're no longer required to stay locked inside them.

Look at Joseph. He could have clung to his brothers' betrayal, to the injustice in Potiphar's house, to the years in prison. He didn't. He let God write a new page. The people of Israel, on the other hand, spent forty years crossing a desert that should have taken a few weeks, because they kept looking back at the cooking pots of Egypt. Don't make the same mistake in 2026.

3. "Behold, I will do a new thing" (Isaiah 43:19)

"Behold, I will do a new thing. It springs out now. Don't you know it?" God takes the initiative. He's not asking you to manufacture the newness yourself. He's asking you to recognize it, to desire it, and to ask him for it.

This week, in prayer and fasting, simply ask the question: "Lord, what do you want to do that's new in my life?" In your spiritual gifts? In your prayer life? In your study of the Word? In the love you show your neighbor? In your vision of God, your faith, your wisdom? Don't settle for a 2025 blessing. Ask for a 2026 blessing. There's no quota.

4. "A way in the wilderness, rivers in the desert" (Isaiah 43:19-20)

The wilderness is that place where you're lost because there's no path anymore. Ahead, behind, left, right: it all looks the same. Maybe you're starting 2026 overwhelmed by your job, your studies, your family situation. Barely two days into the year and you're already disoriented.

Here's the promise: God makes a way in your wilderness. He puts rivers in your desert. You who feel alone are not alone. The Lord is with you. You still have to realize it, remember it, and live it out.

5. Refuse to become stagnant water

Jesus says, "He who believes in me, as the Scripture has said, from within him will flow rivers of living water" (John 7:38). And to the Samaritan woman: "The water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life" (John 4:14).

The pastor points out a simple truth: water becomes undrinkable when it stagnates. What keeps water fresh is movement. What creeps up on you after a few years as a believer is stagnation. Wednesday prayer, Friday outreach, Sunday service, and around it goes again. You go because you're supposed to go. You lose the flavor. You lose the freshness. It's the routine drying you out while you think you're walking with God.

Key takeaways

• God speaks now. Not just yesterday. His word from Isaiah 43 is for you, in your current season.
• Don't stay a prisoner of your past. The wounds are real, but the Holy Spirit wants to heal you and move you forward.
• Dare to ask for something new. There's no quota on blessings. Claim a 2026 blessing.
• Expect a way through the wilderness. Even when you see nothing, God opens a path and walks it with you.
• Refuse stagnant water. A genuine Christian life is in motion, not on religious autopilot.

Personal application

• What blessing from 2025 am I thanking God for this morning, and what new thing will I dare to ask him for this week?
• Is there a past event I keep replaying that's blocking God's work in my life? Am I ready to hand it over to him?
• Where is my spiritual life stagnating? In which specific area (prayer, the Word, service, relationships) have I lost the flavor?
• If God opens a path through my wilderness, am I ready to walk it, even without seeing the end?
• Concretely, who can I talk to about Christ this week: a neighbor, a coworker, a family member I see every day?

Scriptures cited

• Isaiah 43:1-4 · "Don't be afraid, for I have redeemed you. I have called you by your name. You are mine."
• Isaiah 43:18-19 · "Don't remember the former things... Behold, I will do a new thing."
• Isaiah 43:20-21 · "I give waters in the wilderness... the people which I formed for myself, that they might set forth my praise."
• John 7:38 · "From within him will flow rivers of living water."
• John 4:14 · "The water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life."
• 2 Corinthians 5:17 · "Old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new."

FAQ

What does "don't remember the former things" mean when someone has suffered real trauma?

Samuel Mabboux doesn't minimize wounds. He acknowledges that some pain is legitimate and leaves lasting marks. Not dwelling on it anymore doesn't mean erasing it by sheer willpower, but letting the Holy Spirit apply his balm, heal gradually, and let God write a new page, just as he did for Joseph after his brothers' betrayal.

How can I tell if my spiritual life is "stagnant"?

One clear sign: you go through the motions of your church meetings out of habit, no longer expecting anything from God. You go to Wednesday prayer, to Sunday service, and nothing fresh happens between him and you. Freshness returns when the water starts moving again, meaning when you ask God for something new and actually walk out what he shows you.

What's the first thing to do to live a different 2026?

Set aside time for prayer (ideally paired with fasting, as the pastor suggests), and ask God a specific question: "Lord, what do you want to do that's new in my life this year?" Then listen, write down what comes, and take the first step in the direction he shows you. The newness comes from him: it's up to you to receive it and put it into practice.