Jen’s Gem: Make room for God.
Over the past few weeks, I have been refreshing my home. This process has consisted of moving some furniture around, decluttering, and finding new purposes for things. As a result, I have a large bin that is overflowing with unwanted items ready to be donated.
It’s amazing to me how in one season of life, I “had to have” some of these things and in another season, I’m so easily willing to part with them. Sure, tastes change. Needs change. Yet, after all of the paring down I’ve done over the past decade, one would think there would be nothing left!
Somehow, “stuff” seems to make its way back or in my case, things I didn’t want to let go of years ago I’m now ready to kick to the curb. I want a fresh start, clean slate, a do-over.
You know who else likes fresh starts and new things? God. Look at these two verses from the Old Testament:
“Behold, I will do a new thing, Now it shall spring forth; Shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness And rivers in the desert” (Isaiah 43:19 NKJV).
“Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, Because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning” (Lamentations 3:22-23 NKJV).
God is always doing a new thing in our lives, whether we recognize it or not. He is always working to ensure we fulfill the purpose He has for each of us. And to help us out, He gives us a fresh supply of His mercy every day.
What does this mean? Simply put, when we mess up, we can ask God to forgive us, and we get a do-over. And another one. And another one. Ad infinitum.
You might be wondering when do the “do-overs” end? Doesn’t God get tired of “forgiving and forgetting?” Nope. Never. The Bible tells us that God is longsuffering – that’s a fancy word for incredibly patient. He never gets tired of showing us His love and mercy. Never.
You may not know this. You may not know that God stands ready to give you a fresh start any time you ask. You may think He’s mad at you because you’ve messed up so much. You may think He’s walked away from you.
I can assure you He has not. You may have walked away from Him from time to time, but He is firmly seated on His throne. He hasn’t moved. He hasn’t changed. He is still God and He still loves you.
A few years ago, I was watching a teaching by Andrew Womack that my good pal and amazing podcast co-host Karen Salisbury shared with me. In the background of the video were these six words:
“Tell my kids I love them.”
This week, I received two additional confirmations of this message. One came from an email and the other from a movie. Clearly, this is a message God wanted me to see and to share.
How do you know that God loves you? How can you be sure? Well, in short, He sent His beloved Son to die for you so that by believing in Him, you could spend eternity in heaven instead of hell. That’s a whopper!
This can be challenging to wrap your head around yet once this is believed and received, your life transforms. Until you do, you wonder and wander. You wonder who you are and you wander through life trying to figure it out. I get this. I soo get this!
Sometimes in order to see a new thing, you have to let go of the old things, old beliefs, old behaviors, old (fill in the blank).
“Nor do they put new wine into old wineskins, or else the wineskins [a]break, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined. But they put new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.”” (Matthew 9:17 NKJV)
God wants to do something new for you today. What old stuff do you need to clear out, so you can let His new mercies and blessings come forth?