During Lent, I’m participating in a study by author Max Lucado―He Chose the Nails.
An instruction Lucado gave to be used in our daily quiet time was to ask
ourselves several questions. “Where in my life am I falling short, feeling
defeated, or growing cold to God? What new thing do I hope God might do in me?”
To me, the question that takes the most
courage to ask is the last one.
A new thing is at first appealing, but new
things involve change, which is often challenging.
I’ll never forget sitting in a prayer
group years ago, and a friend asked for prayer about her move. Her family was
renovating a beautiful vintage home in a lovely part of town, but she had two
small children at the time. “It’s a blessing. . . ” she said with tears
streaming down her face. “. . . but I’m
so overwhelmed.”
God was giving her a new home, but in time,
He also did something fresh in her, increasing her trust in Him as she walked
with Him through this transition.
If there’s a geographical, relational,
vocational, or any other kind of change, it will always come with a spiritual
implication.
When we ask God to do a new thing in us,
sometimes there can be an unraveling of sorts. He may take things apart before
he puts them back together.
It often feels easier just to be satisfied
with the status quo, but clinging to our comfort zone and our past can cause us
to miss the incredible future God has. We’ll miss the stretching and
strengthening. We’ll miss the wonder of how the new work can shake us from our
yesterdays to establish different opportunities. The new thing can cause us to
think of ourselves in ways we never have before―see ourselves more as God sees us.
Eugene Peterson translated Isaiah 43:19
this way, “Forget about what’s happened; don’t keep going over old history. Be
alert, be present. I’m about to do something brand-new. It’s bursting out! Don’t
you see it?”
In the original language the word new
has a connotation of renew or repair as if the something brand-new is closer to
God’s original intent.
As I’m praying for God to show me the new
thing He wants to do in me, and I’m also praying He would give me the courage and
tenacity to embrace it.
This Lenten season, join with me in
asking the questions above. In doing so, when we celebrate the rolled away stone on Easter morning, our
Hallelujahs may resound even more.
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