That sounds like a HOPE-filled blog title doesn’t it? I mean who doesn’t like the bible verse about God doing a New Thing! I sure do… but there is a need for great courage and faith.
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. (Is. 43:19)
And I agree. :”New” is wonderful… But, NEW is also a little scary too, and in order to embrace the “NEW” thing God is doing. (the “seeing”…the “perceiving” from the verse) there needs to be a letting go of “old”. How can we fully embrace His New when staying stuck in the OLD?
God has been challenging my heart in many areas and I wanted to share some words that He has laid on my heart.
Maybe this post can encourage your heart as you hear His whispers and invitations.
Personally, Our family is in a season of New Invitations and they are scary and exciting all at once and we are praying for the ability to release “old” and receive “new”. In fact, we just returned from a family missions trip serving in Guatemala with the ministry Impacting One Life at a Time. It was a beautiful and an anointed time serving village communities in the jungle along the river of Rio Dulce. I will be sharing more on that special time in another post. But, let me just say that God is setting before us new possibilities and invitations that line up with our passions and burning hearts and visions we have prayed about for many years.
But, what we are praying for most of all are for Open Hearts and Faith-filled souls, and spread out arms to release what is not meant to be ours anymore, and step into the New places and possibilities with courage and HOPE.
Because what I am learning is that you simply can’t stay in a “wilderness” or a “waiting” season, if He is suddenly inviting you to a “way out.”
You can’t set up camp in a hallway, when there is an open door in front of you to walk through.
You can’t stay dry and thirsty, if He is suddenly offering “streams of living water!”
You can’t walk in ignorance when you’ve SEEN His glory and heard His voice.
Because you are suddenly accountable to what you’ve just heard, seen and been invited to.
Once our eyes are opened,
we can’t pretend we don’t know what to do.
God, who knows our hearts & keeps our souls,
knows what we know, and holds us responsible to act. -Proverbs 24:12
Have your eyes been opened up to “more?”
I wonder, how many of us truly want/beg/pray for the New THING, the open door but are also terrified of letting go of the old THINGS/WAYS and stepping forward.
How many truly want to embrace the BLOOM of life-giving newness when we have been so used to the desert places.
“The desert will rejoice and bloom like a Wildflower”
Isaiah 35:1
The invitation to grow and bloom can come in many forms. And the temptation to stay stuck can come in a variety of ways too.
Perhaps we stay stuck in old sin patterns when He is offering freedom and forgiveness, or maybe we stay stuck in old toxic thoughts when He is offering to renew our mind, or we stay trapped in anger when He calls us to forgive, or maybe we hunker down and keep safe in our dark caves of comfort when He is inviting us out to hear the whisper of a new invitation. Perhaps there is a holy invitation into a new mission or journey or chapter and yet there is a risk too. Maybe there is before you this possibility to SEE Him do a new thing, but perhaps fear is where we stay stuck?
Fear of the hard, or fear of getting hurt or fear of not pleasing others.
There is no possibility of NEW if we stay anchored to THE OLD.
But, it takes courage over contentment.
It takes faith over fear…
and it takes activity over passivity.
It takes stepping in and opening your heart and arms to release the old to HIM and embrace the gift of new!
Sometimes we find ourselves in a season of waiting so long that when the word to “step out” finally comes, we dismiss, doubt it, and discard it because it’s too new and different and weird. Or perhaps we have gotten so used to the numbing sensation of distraction, that we let the distractions drown out the new words of invitation and hope. In fact, I believe this is the enemy’s number one tactic…. distraction.
But, remember… we are the people of the Promise land. Eyes up and forward!
We are not a people of the wandering deserts meant to walk in circles of complacency, ineffectiveness and doubt. We are called to be a persevering people who are to work out our salvation with fear and trembling!
“Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” (Phil 2:12-13)
I don’t know about you, BUT the new invitations forward makes me tremble and it makes me excited all at the same time.
Most times these invitations call me to die to something to be able to walk in the newness of Life that God is birthing.
Our God is a God who brings Life from death… but so often we hold on to the areas of our lives/ministries/activities/patterns/habits/work/relationships/places/thoughts…etc… because it’s what we’ve “grown accustomed to”… we are just used to it being “that” way and who wants to shake things up, bust out and get uncomfortable? I mean, what would people think?
Honestly, it takes surrender… and surrender is hard.
Is God calling you to surrender something that you have gotten too used to? It is hard…. and takes bravery to open our hands.
Our family is praying for ears to hear and eyes to SEE and hearts to trust. We are praying for the courage to let the good gardener cut away the areas that no longer produce life to make space for new fruit. How can we be the Psalm 1 trees growing by streams of living water if we don’t submit to God’s holy work of pruning.
Is He calling you out of the darkness, and into the light?
Yes, there are seasons of darkness where there is necessary work to be done. Think of a seed…. most of the breaking, waiting, and preparing happens in the darkness. But, there also comes a glorious time when the sprout is called higher into new beginnings.
That new seedling had to let go of its comfortable shell to step forth into the beauty she was made for, and purposed for. There is a brave breaking off and breaking through that needed to foreshadow the NEW rising up bloom.
What breaking in your heart needs to happen for your break-through. Perhaps fear? Pride? Control? Comfort? Safety? Pleasing others?
There is a season for everything under the sun. And the SON of God has set us FREE to run hard and fast after HIS heart into the places of new seasons, promise and purpose and obedience, and HOPE.
Run forward and release so you can receive.
And before I sign off, let me talk about grief.
I hope you will lean in because this is very important. We don’t have a distant and removed God. ….no, we have JESUS who is acquainted with all our sorrows.
Releasing is hard sometimes. REALLY REALLY HARD.
And when it is REALLY HARD and heart breaking , there is also a need to grieve. There is a need to grieve the old places, the past, the people, the losses, the hurts, the deaths.
Grief is how we grow. In fact, it was in a holy garden, in the dark of night where our Lord Jesus went before us and demonstrated great lament in the face of His mission before Him.
It takes the places of lament to usher in HIs Light and courage and strength.
Lament is how we stay close to God’s heart when we are called to surrender in the most holy, hardest, and wrecking of places.
The Tears need to fall.
So friend, please let them fall as you fight forward with HOPE.
Tears are a gift and they honor the places, people and parts of our stories that we have been asked to surrender, lay down and release and entrust to the Lord (even when we don’t understand His ways).
I believe it’s the tears that water the ground of our hearts to stay soft to the voice of God when He calls us to SEE how He is resurrecting, restoring, transforming, and “making ALL things NEW”.
Grief is how we stay soft to HIS voice.
And His voice…. HIS WORDS are alive and bring LIFE from death.
It is what He does.
He is our REDEEMER!
He is always making a way…… Jesus did not stay in that garden in the darkness… He went on to the mission set before Him and then He walked out of the grave and HE LIVES.
I am praying for the faith to follow Jesus into the NEWness of LIfe and stay postured to His invitations so we can move when He invites us to move and go forth when He calls us forward.
He is good, and we can trust His heart to lead us well. He is our good good shepherd.
Let’s Follow Him… for the JOY set before us!
