Tag: New beginnings

Fresh Start

Sometimes we just need a reboot. Just as rebooting requires a shut down and a moment of rest before a restart, something must end and pause before we can begin again.

The Upward Path1 Comment

God has gifted us with necessary endings in order that we might not be overcome with despair and discouraged to the point of giving up. Just as the day and the week and even the year may end in weariness of heart and mind and spirit, there is a time for rest between the end of one and the beginning of another. We lay our heads down, close our eyes and take refreshment in the sleep of restoration.

Life is a lot like rebooting a computer. Rebooting is the thing I do when my computer acts up and everything else has fail to remedy the problem. Turn it off, shut it down, disconnect it’s power source; let it rest and plug it in, turn it on and voila! Problems and issues resolved and I am back on line.

Sometimes we just need a reboot. Just as rebooting requires a shut down and a moment of rest before a restart, something must end and pause before we can begin again. A difficult day may end in a fog of despair and gloom but after a good night’s sleep morning dawns with fresh hope, battle-readiness, and a grace-strengthened, renewed mind and spirit equal to whatever the day brings. There must be rest for the weary in order to revive and restore the fatigued spirit, mind and body.

While each day promises a new beginning, on a larger scale, each week has a Monday. How many times have we decided that we would begin a new thing on “Monday?” I have started many a self-improvement plan on “Monday.” Monday is a pivot day. Whatever new plan I have initiated and failed at can always be reinstated on the following “Monday.” There is a curious hope is the power of Monday reset.

The year 2020 came to a close with resounding cheers and jeers. People find hope in a new year. We look forward to and anticipate blessings in the year ahead. God created us needing a fresh place to begin again so it only stands to reason that people look to the calendar for endings, rest and new beginnings.

Those of us who have put our faith and trust in Jesus recognize that morning is not our savior; Monday is not our savior; January 1st is not our savior. Jesus, who is the Alpha and Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end (Rev. 22:13) gave us, in perfect wisdom, beginnings and endings that we might not faint or grow weary to the point of despair but that we might be renewed and strengthened with the hope of new morning mercies. Jesus, in whom strengthening grace sufficient for the day is found, is our Savior, Redeemer and Deliverer.

How easy it is to forget that our hope does not lie in a moment in time but the One created time! I must be reminded that my hope, my confident assurance, is rooted in the promises of God stated over and over again, throughout His Word; He will never leave us or forsake us; His steadfast love endures forever and His mercies never end.

Philippians 3:14 But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

And so disciplining our hearts to focus on Jesus; not looking back to the past, counting the cost and bemoaning what was lost but forgetting, in a sense, that none of it matters or has genuine value compared to the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus our Lord. With eyes riveted on the prize, reaching out for what is yet beyond us, straining forward, pressing toward that which our eyes behold.

As we begin afresh the year 2021 let us look to Jesus, the anchor of our hope, to the praise of His glory, and cast a blessing to one another with a resounding Happy New Year!

Seasons

The Upward Path2 Comments

Last year at Word of Life in upstate New York, Richard Blackaby, author of Seasons of God,  taught four sessions on the subject of seasons.   It gave me great perspective on the seasons of my own life both looking back on the past as well as to what lies ahead.

Seasons are a fact of life.   We can count on there being four seasons every year but those seasons don’t always look the same.  Sometimes spring is cold and seems to come late.  Sometimes summer is hot, dry, and without much rain.  Sometimes warm fall weather lasts into November and sometimes winter has brought us feet of snow .  Every year brings with it its own brand of seasons.

As does life!

I love how Solomon says it Ecclessiates 3:1-8  

For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:

2 a time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
3 a time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to break down, and a time to build up;
4 a time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
5 a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
6 a time to seek, and a time to lose;
a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
7 a time to tear, and a time to sew;
a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
8 a time to love, and a time to hate;
a time for war, and a time for peace.

For EVERYTHING.

Everything has a beginning, a time preparation, a time of furrowing and planting and waiting for things to happen and grow.  There is a time of hard work, weeding and toiling under the sun.  There are signs of life but not much fruit.  There is a time when the evidence of your investment and work proves to be fruitful and there is a return on your labor;  harvest season. Then there is a resting season, a time when everything good has been harvested and the ground needs a rest, the people need a rest.  It’s a time when some things die and other things only look like they’ve died but they are simply in a time of complete rest.

Today I am facing a winter season.  As season of letting something go; ceasing to breathe life into something that clearly needs to die.  There is a bit of grief stirring within me.  Saying goodbye to this season is necessary in order to move on the the next thing.  I am reminded of what Paul writes in Philippians:

Philippians 3:13-14

Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own.  But one thing I do:  forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

I must let go of one thing in order to grab hold of another.  Just like the playground horizontal ladder.  I cannot move ahead without first letting go of the hand behind me to swing forward to the next wrung.   If I don’t let go, I do not move ahead and neither can those behind me.  Those following me cannot move ahead until I move. Horizontal Playground Ladder

So what’s behind the hesitation to let go?  Why the ambivalence?    It’s easier to hold on to the thing you know, than to let go, trust God and grab hold of the unknown thing that lies ahead.   Living out a faithful life in Christ to the glory of God requires me to let go and trust that God will uphold me with his righteous right hand.   It’s a walk of faith.

Life is reflected in the image of seasons.   I can rest in this season of winter and let go; no need to strive to make things happen.  It is foolish to attempt to harvest when the fruit is gone.   I must see that there is no more to be gained and let go.  No worries about what will happen if something has to end.   God has more for me until He calls me home.  It may be winter now but spring is coming!

And so I rest.