A FRESH START ~ Isaiah 6:1-8
Has there been any time in the recent past where you have thought you could sure use a fresh start? Ever wish you could push a few buttons and your life would somehow get back on track? Ever ask where are the CONTROL-Z keys in life? I want a do-over. I wish I had a “get out of jail free card!” Can I start over? Can I take a Mulligan on this one?
Maybe you’d like to have a fresh start in a career? a fresh start with a credit card? a fresh start with a project? a relationship? a diet?
What about a fresh start in your relationship with God? If so, this message is for you. God wants you to know: It’s not too late for a fresh start.
I love new. And you love new. And you know what? Here’s the good news. God loves new too. God’s all about new.
God sees what could be new for us and He wants us to get there. God saw it for Isaiah. Look at 43:19. That 2500 year old promise to Isaiah and his people is the same promise God has for us—for YOU right now. That’s good news.
Before Isaiah could speak this newness promise to his people, let me tell you how he got his fresh start—a fresh start that made a total difference in his life. Would you like to a fresh start from God? Perhaps God will grant you to have a fresh start vision too!
Read Isaiah 6:1-8.
What area of your life right now feels a little dry and you need a fresh start?
Now we’re going to take a look at a fresh start. I believe that, in light of Isaiah’s vision, I believe that there are some things that you and I can do right now, today, to prepare us for a fresh start. But we’ve got to do our part.
Five Actions & Questions for a Fresh Start
1a. Register the pain.
You’ve got pain, I’ve got pain, all God’s people have got? PAIN.
There’s pain in all of our lives. You have to identify it = register it. Isaiah begins by saying, “In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord.” Why did Isaiah have his vision “In the year that King Uzziah died…”?
The most significant fresh starts in somebody’s life appear following some significant loss or death.
1b. ASK THE QUESTION: What needs to change?
You may not know this, but God doesn’t bring the pain to you; but He is waiting for you to bring the pain to Him. He sees YOUR new—He knows what new is up ahead for you! He’s ready and willing to help you deal with your pain so you can get a fresh start.
2a. Recognize it’s all about God.
It’s all about God. Isaiah says, “I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of His robe filled the temple. And they were calling together, ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty. The whole earth is full of His glory.’” It’s all about God.
Personally, in my life, I know that when I identify my pain, what it does is it brings me to God—I allowed my father’s death and my brother’s death and our recent miscarriage to bring me to God. I begin to think about God and my need for Him in the losses. I begin to think about how HE has helped me in times past, and how good and loving He has always been and THAT becomes the motivator for me to change. Pain is meant to be an escalator to God IF YOU GET ON!
Here’s where a lot of people mess up. They identify their pain, but instead of saying, “It’s all about God,” they say, “It’s all about me."
2b. QUESTION: Who is my God? A fresh start happens because of God.
3a. Reveal the truth about myself.
That’s what Isaiah does when he writes, “Woe to me.” There really isn’t a good translation into our language of this Hebrew word. The word is spelled, “OI!” If I look at myself in light of God’s glory, God’s majesty—“OI!”
3b. QUESTION: “Where is my heart?” If you’re going to have a fresh start, you’ve got to answer that question. On an ugly scale of one to a hundred, where is your heart? This time it is about you—where is your heart? Most of the time people go through life and they never evaluate.
The truth is when I am in God’s presence and I see the ugliness of my heart and I go, “OI!” it now draws me closer to God.
4a. Release the past.
Verse 7: “With it, he touched my mouth and said, ‘See, this has touched your lips. Your guilt is taken away [underline that, “your guilt is taken away”] and your sin atoned for.’” Circle that, “your sin atoned for”. Your sin is paid for and it is gone!
God doesn’t want you or me to live with regrets. And because of that, He’s offered us this incredible gift called forgiveness.
He puts them into the sea of forgetfulness and remembers them no more,” and puts up a sign that says NO FISHING! God puts your sins as far as the east is from the west—not in a circle but in a straight line! Isn’t that great news? He forgives all you sins. I don’t have to hide them anymore. My guilt is gone.
We can release the past because God has released us from it. Do you know what you are to do when Satan reminds you your past? Remind him of his future!
4b. QUESTION: What am I holding on to? Am I holding on to the regret of failed relationships? Am I holding on to the regret of wrong choices or wrong words or hurtful things I’ve done? God forgives. That’s God’s part.
Then I also have a part. My part is to acknowledge that I am wrong and confess the wrong that I’ve done. Then receive God’s forgiveness and release the regrets and live the forgiven life.
But the problem comes when we want to relive the past. Or we allow others to relive it for us.
And the future of a fresh start comes when we...
5a. Reply, "Yes, God!"
That’s what Isaiah did. Verse 8: “Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?’ And I said, [Here’s the fresh start.] ‘Here am I. Send me.’” That’s saying yes to God. Here am I! Send me! Send me to do Your work. Send me to do Your will. Send me to be Your person. Send me to be a man of God in the marketplace. Send me to be a woman of God in the marketplace. Send me out as a fresh start. Because Isaiah experienced a fresh start, I can too!
There is no better time than now.
5b. Final question: When am I going to start?
Will it be now! It’s waiting for you. It’s not too late.
