Recently, I started a new job, which has not been a smooth transition. I’m sure I haven’t navigated this change as gracefully as I could’ve, but I’m doing the best I can.
For the first month of working there, a group of us traveled from Texas to California to train with the people currently doing our jobs. I’ve spent countless hours with the same group of coworkers and we’ve learned so much about each other in a short period of time. After the first week, I felt like I had known some of these people for years—it’s amazing how being in such proximity can lead to deeper intimacy.
God is Doing a New Thing
One of the women is an incredibly kind human and I’m so happy to know her. During dinner one evening, she asked our advice on something she was planning on doing. When I told her what I thought, the Lord kept saying the word “new” to me. It’s a new season for her and he’s restoring her identity in ways that she didn’t expect.
The next day, I was talking to another girl who is moving to Texas with the company, and again, the Lord kept saying the word “new” while I was talking with her. This is a fresh start for her, a reset, something completely different than she has ever experienced before.
A New Season
Two of my dear friends are moving to another state at the end of the year and, again, “new” is the word that perfectly describes their season: new job, new house, new responsibilities, but more importantly, new assignment, new authority, new mission, and new capacity.
Through the transition and every word of “new” that has come my way over the past few weeks, I have been focused on the following verses, unable to move past this idea of the “brand new” that the Lord is doing.
[ctt template=”2″ link=”Af3Y_” via=”no” ]God is doing something new…[/ctt]
“This is what the Lord says—
he who made a way through the sea,
a path through the mighty waters,
who drew out the chariots and horses,
the army and reinforcements together,
and they lay there, never to rise again,
extinguished, snuffed out like a wick:
“Forget the former things;
do not dwell on the past.
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.”
Isaiah 43:16-19 (NIV)
The Lord had spoken these words to the Israelites who had been through horrendous circumstances. They had been subjected to extreme conditions, been through terrible wars and bloody battles, had been subjected to hatred and captivity again and again, and yet, God gave them this promise. The hard times and the perilous seasons they had lived through were not for nothing; they were merely the preparation for the new God was about to do. God was calling them to shake off the former identity, the slave mentality, the haggard and worn-out they had carried for so long and put on something new.
And I feel like He’s calling us to do the same.
Becoming New
It’s so easy for me to take on things that aren’t mine. I can easily agree with voices that call me “worthless,” “less than,” and “a waste,” but I have to tell those voices to shush and go away, replacing them with the truth of who I am in Christ. Those lies I used to believe don’t define me anymore because I am new. I can shake off those things I once used to protect myself from others, because I have an ultimate protector who cares for me. I can choose to take up the fullness that is available to me in Christ, instead of settling for the scraps of a “good life” I can create for myself by myself.
Behold, He is doing something entirely new, transforming you from the inside out.
No matter the circumstances, you are still becoming new.
Do you perceive it?
Can you believe it?
Join the Conversation
Comment below with what God is doing in your life to transform you into someone new in this season of your life. Is that something you struggle to believe, or do you see it all too clearly?
[ctt template=”2″ link=”dkgiI” via=”yes” ]No matter the circumstances, you are still becoming new.[/ctt]
Books for Related Reading
(Reminder: We participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program)
I love the focus on God doing a new thing. We can get so wrapped up in our own efforts at making life what we think it can be. Or trapped focused on the past. This is a beautiful reminder to look up and notice God’s hand.
It doesn’t feel like anything new is happening to me. Each day is pretty much the same. Routine, things are actually a bit stale, but perhaps I’m just missing it. Or maybe it’s the calm before things get shaken up. Next year I will begin homeschooling a bit more seriously with my son old enough for PreK. THAT will be new, for sure!
Great post!
When we realize that God is always doing something new with us, we can be hopeful that the future will be better than today.
Thank you so much for your encouragement! God gives me “words” like that fairly often. I try to listen and follow what He wants me to do, because it is SO obvious that God is telling me something. Just to have Him share His heart with mine is amazing. I hope your new adventure is a fabulous one, and keep on sharing with others!
Thank you for the reminder that I am a new being with Christ. It’s so hard not to listen to those negative voices telling me I’m no good. I needed that reminder today.
The thing God has been teaching me this year is that He is always doing something. It feels like he is silent sometimes or not moving… But that’s why He says “Will you not see it?” We have to open our eyes to see Him at work all around!
God is definitely doing a number on me. Especially with my pride, (it hurt to admit that). I feel I hear him in those moments which is amazing as I find the pride in the moments that I didn’t think it was pride. I needed this new season.
Sarah,
I feel like you were writing this for me. This past year has been hard for many reasons. This morning as I was praying and asking God about a word for 2019 I opened to Isaiah 43:18-19 where God whispered to my heart that He is about to do something new. Thank You for my confirmation . I am ready with my arms wide open. Blessings to you on your new job !
Great encouragement today. Thanks. When we really believe God is forming us into a new creature, how exciting it is. It means we can focus on our future and not the past.. We don’t live in regret, but in anticipation and confidence.
God is always new, always bright, always loving. I am forever grateful for this. Good luck with your new job. Sometimes the hardest transitions make for the best growth opportunities!
New is always scary to me, so I appreciate this reminder to trust God to lead me and help me grow.