Taking a Deep Breath and Making a Fresh Start

We’re still in the nascent moments of the new year, so it feels like all things are possible. Those things we planned to do last year? Maybe we can accomplish them this year. That troublesome habit we wrestled with last year? We can overcome it this year. That rut we seemed to be stuck in last year? This can be the year we finally extricate ourselves from it and start making some important changes in our lives.

 

In actuality, the transition from 2021 to 2022 was a simple turn of the page on our calendars, but it does seem new, doesn’t it? Kind like starting a new job or moving to a new town. Everything seems fresh and exciting, bubbling over with potential.

 

Experience has taught us, however, the “new car smell” of the new year wears off quickly, so if we plan to make changes, or move forward with the pursuit of long-cherished hopes and dreams, now would be a great time to get started. We don’t need to get it accomplished all at once, but as someone has said, a journey of 1,000 miles begins with a single step.

Among many important and meaningful things about a growing spiritual life is the assurance that we don’t need to spend a lot of time clearing away old messes. God isn’t telling us, “Clean up your act first, and then maybe I can do something with you.” In fact, it’s just the opposite. When we surrender our lives to Jesus Christ and submit to His authority, He promises to give us a fresh start: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” (2 Corinthians 5:17).

 

This passage, as simple as it sounds, can be hard to accept. Even if we have received the gift of eternal life, forgiveness, and redemption through Christ, it often seems like we’re still the same old folks we were before we met Him. After discovering this verse, I remember thinking to myself, ‘How can I be a new creation when I seem like the same old knucklehead I’ve always been?’ This is where it’s important to act according to faith and not feelings. Over time I learned it’s necessary to live on the basis of God’s promises, not our own shortcomings.

 

Another verse I’ve cited before affirms this truth: “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20). Even though there are times when it doesn’t seem like the Spirit of Jesus Christ is living in me, I need to trust that this is true and act accordingly – allowing Him to express His life in me and through me.

 

The Bible affirms that our Creator God is all about making things new, even today. Both the Old and New testaments make this abundantly clear. In one of the prophetic books, He declared, “See, the former things have taken place, and new things I declare; before they spring into being I announce them to you” (Isaiah 42:9).

 

In the next chapter the Lord declares, “See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs us; do you not perceive it?” (Isaiah 43:19), and later in the same book He announces, “Behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind” (Isaiah 65:17). God specializes in restoration and regeneration.

 

One of the psalms opens with, “Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous things; his right hand and his holy arm have worked salvation for him…. He has remembered his love and his faithfulness to the house of Israel, all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God” (Psalm 98:1-3).

 

And in one of the closing chapters of the Scriptures we read, “He who was seated on the throne [God] said, ‘I am making everything new! Then he said, ‘Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true’” (Revelation 21:5).

 

When the Bible opens, we see God doing a new thing – creating the heavens and the earth, and everything in them. At the end of His Word we see He is still busy doing the same thing, making all things new. He’s never stopped doing that.

So, as we ponder the possibilities and potential for this new year, hoping to make a fresh start, perhaps with some dramatic changes, we can trust we don’t have to do it alone. The One who makes all things new has promised to work in us and through us to empower us to do the same. 

Chafing at the Challenges of Change

Change can be a hard thing. A very hard thing. Whether it’s changing systems for doing things in a business, abandoning long-standing traditions, seeing children grow independent, or embracing the latest technological advances (my personal favorite), it’s often difficult. Many of us find comfort in the tried and true and familiar, reluctant to release the old and embrace the new.

The prospect of "new," requiring change
can be exciting - or frightening.

I felt that way before transitioning from an electric typewriter to a desktop computer a few decades ago. I had shifted from a manual typewriter years earlier, but moving to a computer seemed like a quantum leap. (A leap I celebrated almost immediately.) Then came the time to abandon my film camera for a digital version, another major adjustment that within a very short time had me wondering, “Why did I take so long to do this?” Once I had made these changes, there was no hesitation, no looking back.

Over time even changes can become entrenched, resistant to further change. Take, for example, the Sunday night church service. When a question is raised about when it was started, a number of answers have been suggested, but apparently one reason was a very practical one. In the mid-1800s, when gaslights were nearly universal, electric lights were rare. Some churches, attempting to appeal to people that didn’t attend church, decided to invest in electric lighting as a way of attracting the curious – and hopefully seeing them return on a regular basis.

Sunday school is another change that over time became institutionalized. In 1780, a fellow named Robert Railey in London, England had become burdened for the welfare of impoverished, illiterate children. Seeking to provide help in educating them, Railey enlisted the aid of a number of women to teach reading to these youngsters on Sunday mornings – creating a “Sunday school,” using the Bible as the text.

Before long, 100 children were attending the weekly reading classes, and when other Sunday schools were established, that number swelled into the thousands. By 1831, it’s reported more than one million children were being taught to read – and learning about God in the process – through these innovative schools.

Today, of course, much of that history has become forgotten, with Sunday night services and Sunday school becoming fixtures in many churches large and small. To suggest abandoning them in many congregations would seem tantamount to heresy. “Doesn’t it say somewhere in the Bible, ‘Go therefore and attend Sunday night worship services and Sunday school’? Maybe in 2 Babylonians, or the book of Hezekiah?”

That’s not to speak ill of these and many other well-intended, firmly established practices aimed at edifying and equipping the faithful. But as has been observed more than once, it sometimes seems the seven last words of many churches have been, “We’ve never done it that way before!” Why experiment with something new, innovative and unfamiliar when we’re so comfortable with “business as usual”?

Maybe we should because, as Ecclesiastes 3:1 states, “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven.” Just as summer turns into fall, and then to winter, before completing the cycle to spring, seasons for everything come and go. There’s value in periodically pausing to re-evaluate anything we’re doing. Maybe they’re fine as they are; maybe they could stand a bit of tweaking; or maybe they’ve outlived their usefulness. How will we know unless we take the time to regroup and reconsider our what’s and how’s and why’s?

In Isaiah 43:18-19 God declares, “Do not call to mind the former things, or ponder things of the past. 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.”

And speaking of followers of Christ, the Bible declares, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away. Behold, the new has come!” (2 Corinthians 5:17). Even God knows when it’s time for a change, when out with the old and in with the new should be the order of the day.

So while change sometimes seems daunting, often it proves to be the best thing that could have ever happened. So if you’re chafing at the prospect of some kind of major change, fearing it could be too great a challenge, at least give it serious consideration before discarding the idea. Who knows? God just might be initiating a new thing in your life.

Change: Rarely Easy, But Often Worth It

A friend has been going through a rough patch. She’s experiencing change, making the transition from a PC to a Mac. Change is hard, I know. In fact, I’ve made the switch from a Mac to a PC (not my choice), and years later from a PC back to a Mac (definitely my choice.). Many times change proves very worthwhile, but it takes time to make the adjustment.

In the technology world, change is non-negotiable. Have you just bought a new computer, or tablet, or smartphone? Congratulations. It will be obsolete within six months at the latest. Surely you’ll want to swap what you’ve got for the latest and greatest, right?

But change isn’t just a technological phenomenon. It’s a recurring theme throughout life. The simple act of being born is quite a change in itself. No wonder the first thing babies do is cry: “Put me back in that womb, right now!”

Crawling, standing and walking are just
the first of many changes we face in life.

Then little Johnny or Johanna figures how to do tricks like roll over (“See, Rover, I can do that, too!”) and crawl. They’re just mastering that skill, setting land-speed records in the infant crawl, and mommy and daddy start coaxing them to walk. Stand up. Wobble a bit. Take a tentative step or two. Then collapse on their bottom. “Ok, enough of this walking stuff. I’m all for crawling from now on!” But parents have none of it, and before long Junior or Missy is high-stepping all the way down the mall.

Changes, of course, are just starting. There’s potty training, preschool, kindergarten and elementary school. Difficult changes for both child and parents, watching their progeny start to progress through the stages of life. Driver’s license. High school. Dating. College. Exciting, sometimes traumatic. Changes that are inevitable, that must be addressed.

Next are major events like a first full-time job, getting married (at least for some people these days), having children of their own, changing jobs, moving from apartment to house, selling house and buying another, changing jobs again, and so on. We learn that besides death and taxes, the only constant is change.

The same is true spiritually. I can remember cruising along in life, thinking I had everything under control, when suddenly I had a life-changing encounter with God. I had occasionally performed some religious act, like attending a church service, but most of my life probably looked as if I were a practical atheist. If I had been charged with being a follower of Christ, there wouldn’t have enough evidence to convict.

Then, while I was delightfully minding my own business, God interrupted. Some of the changes He brought about in my life – and the life of my family – were instant. Others have come slowly, day by day. That’s what theologians call “sanctification,” the process God uses for transforming our lives from what we once were to what He wants us to be.

Spiritual change is as difficult as any other kind. In 2 Corinthians 5:17 we’re told, “Therefore, if anyone in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come.” But this doesn’t mean the new life we receive is easy. It requires unlearning old, destructive habits through the power of Christ, while learning new, productive ones. Sometimes aspects of our former life still seem appealing.

Romans 12:2 instructs, “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will.” Again, easier said than done, because it means being willing to change from what someone has termed “stinkin’ thinkin’” and choosing instead to adopt a new mindset based on what God has revealed in the Scriptures. Sometimes this change can occur quickly, but often it takes place at tortoise speed.

Reading the Bible, it’s evident God is all for change; He’s in the deconstruction and reconstruction business: “Do not call to mind the former things, or ponder things of the past. Behold, I will do something new, now it will spring forth; will you not be aware of it? I will even make a roadway in the wilderness, rivers in the desert” (Isaiah 43:18-19).

So becoming a new creation in Christ takes time; it’s a process. Like a master sculptor approaching a piece of granite to create a magnificent sculpture, God comes to us in a similar manner. He’s bringing about change – sometimes uncomfortable, even painful – gently and patiently chipping away everything that doesn’t look like Jesus, so that one day we’ll experience the truth of 1 John 3:2, “Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.”

And you thought changing from a PC to a Mac was an achievement!