“…The old has gone, the new is here!” 2 Corinthians 5:17
New can be exciting, fun, adventurous, or even scary. Your opinion on “new” may vary, but we can all agree, new is always different than what we have experienced before. This semester we are focusing on the word “new” in the Bible and pulling out verses that speak of it and there are no shortage of verses containing the word.
“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
If God is making all things new, I suppose it is an idea we need to get used to and learn to be ok with, right? How often though, we pray and seek “new,” but when new comes it is resisted like the plague. A new person means new energy, new personality, new problems…. A new job means new goals, new expectations, and new schedules. A new pet means new routine, new messes to clean, new expenses. A new home means new experiences, new challenges, and new roads to travel. No matter what new we face, it leads to more and more new.
So, if God is making all things new, we should learn to expect the new, be encouraged by the new, and allow ourselves to be made new. New things should comfort us as we know God is still in control and when He is in charge, He is always making all things new. He may very well be asking US to be the “new” thing to make things new wherever we are.
Having children taught me a great life lesson. Embrace the new or be a mess all the time! Children are always changing. Each day brings different moods, wants, desires, problems. They grow and their bodies change. Our routines change. Their knowledge changes. Every day our home is made new. Just when we enter a routine I enjoy, it changes. Just when we go through a season of lessons that were tough, new ones start. Nothing really stays the same, which means all things are being made new…
But God…
“I the Lord do not change.–” Malachi 3:6
Our comfort in new is that God isn’t fazed by the new, He brings the new. He is evolving us into a better version of ourselves each time a change happens in our life. Each time we experience something new, He is making us new. And while the world around us changes, while we change, while our loved ones change, the Lord our God, does not change. He can hold us fast in the storm of new always happening around us and to us.
“We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure…” Hebrews 6:19
So, this week when you meet someone new, take a new route to work, have a new neighbor move in, eat a new food, or even have a new difficulty or loss, pause. Breathe. Examine that “new” thing you are experiencing and ask God how He is making you new and rest assured that the one who holds it all does not change yet He also makes all things new. You are right where you are supposed to be!
Today’s photo is of my dad and I. Last May we took a trip with my boys to Florida which was something new we had never done. The locations were new, the experiences were new, and our relationships were made new along the way. I had many uncertainties and fears before going, but I am so glad that we allowed this new thing to happen as I will always treasure it and grew so much from it!
Embracing the new with you, Julie
Father, Today I Surrender:
My New
Show me the next step I should take.