Happy New Year 2014! to you before I begin this short piece.
The word that caught my attention was “new.” Many of you know that I and my family are walking through (catch the word through, we will come out of this), a season of grief. And anyone who has gone through healthy grieving can attest to the fact that it has no real structure or pattern that you can look at and say, “oh, now I am on step 2,” because the next day without giving your consent, you may be back at step 1, if there were a such thing. Just one day, how many days, months, or years that may be, you begin to recognize that you are no longer mourning (the outward activity of grief).
Well, anyway, I shared that to say, that “new” doesn’t always come with gladness. “New” comes no matter what. Like the “new year.” It will not stop because you aren’t ready for it to come. It comes anyway!
“New,” looking at a few dictionaries I found the following definitions: “not existing before; start of a period of time; recent; just found, discovered or learned; not previously experienced or encountered; different from the former or the old; never used or worn before; clueless.” When I think of the word “new,” I think of “a change in perspective” or “different,” as one dictionary defined it, or “something is no longer the same.”
So, what’s my point? : ) I’m getting there; this is it: When we encounter something new, we cannot deal with it, handle it or look at it as we did something old. That’s the first point. The second point is that “new” comes to us everyday; we have to choose to see it. We must be willing to make the adjustment to the “new.” We must be willing to accept the reality that “new is new.” This means that we must be willing to change. Whether it is a change in perspective, a change in lifestyle, a change geographically, etc., etc., we must be willing to change!
Change is no easy matter. To have the courage to change is a choice because it is often hard, tough to do, or scary. But you, I, we can do it!
I am currently being challenged by this verse in the Bible, “for we walk by faith, not by sight.” (2 Corinthians 5:7) Faith, meaning putting all of my trust in God for the “new” that I am facing. And, in trusting Him, my goal is to please Him above myself because He is my Creator and the One in control. His promise is that “He rewards those who please Him,” however “without faith, we cannot even begin to please Him.”
We are all at different places when it comes to faith / trust. Some have not yet chosen to have faith in God, while others are just beginning to trust Him, or others like me, who have had 30 years of “walking by faith” and recognize that, “wow, here I am again!” To live out this life with success from God’s perspective, we must learn daily, continually, always, to rely on Him, complete dependence is the aim! Because He, and He alone, is the One who will bring us through the “new!”
Choose to, make a point to Enjoy the “New” journey! He Is (is underlined) with you and me, and will see us through! Let us choose daily, to trust Him, that is, to put our faith in God gazing on His promises.
Because of God’s amazing GRACE….
Roz
Rosalind Stanley, MA, LPPC
Licensed Professional Pastoral Counselor
BECAUSE OF GRACE 