"Behold, I am making all things new." - Revelation 21:5
So this is new.
And I've been thinking a lot lately about "The New".
There is something undeniably special about the coming of something new. There is anticipation, there is hopefulness. There is also wonder, and excitement. You know that things are not going to be same. There is change happening, but you know enough about it to be certain that it is worth the anticipation. Or sometimes you might not, and then the mystery and uncertainty lends itself to the thrill of pursuing something new.
I haven't written in a long time. I set this up many months ago when I thought I was going to spend more time writing, but I never did. But this is exciting, I am starting something new. I am going to miss 'the Old", and all of the stuff I wrote before. But this is chance to start over, and to do it all over again; I'm already looking forward to it.
Welcome to "The Importance of Being Earnest"!
"Yes, Mrs. Dench, you're right. That's totally the name of our play."
One of the best things about God is that He is in the business of making new things.
It's quite a profound thing. God is in the business of renewal, restoration, and redemption. He creates, but then He also re-creates. Things that were once dead, are now raised to life. What was broken, He mends. When we are at our very worst and in the pits of despair and anguish, He carries us out and sets us on the right path. There are new things to be seen, when He touches our eyes and we receive new sight. That is the story of the gospel, isn't it?
Sometimes 'The New' takes time. Sometimes 'The Old' gets in the way, or it's easier to keep hanging onto it. Maybe uncertainty and mystery are things I don't want to deal with, and I find the darkness soothing. Maybe the longer we spend in darkness, by the time we see it, it becomes blinding.
The other tough thing, 'new' usually brings with it 'change'. I think God is also in the business of changing things, and change is a scary thing. I think what scares me the most about change is that it falls on me to make sense of it. There is solace in familiarity, but it breeds complacency. Sometimes, I'm not ready for God to bring about something new.
"Change is neither good nor bad, it simply is.
It can be greeted with
terror or joy, a tantrum that says "I want it the way it was,"
or a
dance that says, "Look, something new!" - Don Draper
There may be something to that. We think of good changes and bad changes. There are definitely some changes that are much harder than others. Change can be the source of immense grief and suffering, but it can also lead to overwhelming joy. It's hard to make sense of it sometimes, and I have been finding this to be true just in recent days. Many things have been changing in the lives of those around me, and I find myself on the brink of some quite certain changes.
But we can make sense of it. We can see what's coming; God is making something new.
In this ever-changing world, we have a God who is constantly redeeming, renewing, and transforming. The only unchanging fact of each new day is that His mercies are new every morning. I can trust my God in His re-creating work in this world, in us, and in me. And I know that a day is coming when it will all be done. It will all be finished. When those words in Revelation 21 will be spoken, and it will come to be.
So what's new with you?
Mine is the sunlight, mine is the morning
Born of the one light Eden saw play
Praise with elation, praise every morning;
God's re-creation of the new day!
