Who here has ever made a new year’s resolution? How many people have actually stuck with it?
I have made a new year’s resolution many times. A common one for me has been to lose weight, and get into shape. However, needless to say, I never lost weight. And I came to the realisation, after some time, that round is a shape, and therefore I am in shape.
Why do we make new year’s resolutions anyway? It’s because there is a part of ourselves that we are not happy with, or a part of ourselves that we want to change, or sometimes we just want to live our lives better than we have.
I was reading a Psychology Today article on why people don’t stick with new year’s resolutions. What I read, I have to say, was very sad. The following is a quote from the article:
‘Psychology professor Peter Herman and his colleagues have identified what they call the "false hope syndrome," which means their resolution is significantly unrealistic and out of alignment with their internal view of themselves. This principle reflects that of making positive affirmations. When you make positive affirmations about yourself that you don't really believe, the positive affirmations not only don't work, they can be damaging to your self-worth.’
How sad is that! ‘False hope syndrome’. The thought that our resolutions are not only unrealistic, but significantly unrealistic, and they do not line up with our internal view of ourselves. That’s not very encouraging, is it? The thought that making positive statements about ourselves that we really don’t believe to be true is only making us feel worse.
What this article is basically saying, is that you’re not happy with yourself, you want to change yourself, you want to live better, but don’t even bother, because chances are your goal is unrealistic and it will only make you worse than what you are. Wow.
But perhaps, instead of a new year’s resolution, how about we call it a new beginning.
And you know what? I am encouraged, and I encourage you with the fact, that for our God, nothing is impossible. So no matter what part of yourself you are not happy with, or you want to change for the better, or even if there is a particular sin you are struggling with or feel convicted about, give it all over to Jesus. If you hand it to God and ask for his help, he is faithful and will help you.
Because our God makes all things new. When we want to make a new start in our life, all we need to do is turn to God. When we accepted the gift of salvation, we ourselves were made new. And for the God who created the universe from nothing, nothing is impossible.
Isaiah 43:16-19 reads:
This is what the Lord says – he who made a way through the sea, a path through the might waters, who drew out the chariots and the 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.”
There is a structure to the writings of the Old Testament prophets that we can see in this passage. Sometimes the message began with God reminding the prophet of what he had done before, reminding them (and therefore the people the message was meant for) of the great things God has done for them in the past. At this time, in the Babylonian exile, we see God reminding them that he has saved them before. He saved Israel from Egypt, he made a way for them through the Red Sea, and at the same time he extinguished their enemy. God is giving them a reminder that he has saved them before, giving them encouragement and reminding them of his sovereign authority and power, before telling them what he will do for them in the future.
And what an amazing statement of the authority, sovereignty, and powerful God we have! God is ultimately in control, and loves his people, and wants only the best for them.
It is always encouraging for me, and it makes me stop and just be in absolute awe of our God, when I think that this same God – the redeemer of Israel, the Holy One of Israel, the Lord, the Creator of the entire universe, the King, wants to have a personal relationship with me and died on the cross to make that possible.
But look at these words again:
“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.”
Although these words were written more than 2,500 years ago, they are just as relevant now as they were back then. God told Israel through the prophet Isaiah not to hold onto the bad things of the past, don’t dwell on them! Let it go. Forget it. God is making a new way in the wilderness, and he is making streams in the wasteland.
At this time in Israel’s history, they were being punished by God for their sins against God. However, we need to keep in mind that with God, there is always hope. God wanted to give a message of hope for his people, and his intention here was to show them that this time of punishment would not last. God’s goal for them, and his goal for us, was to give them a new beginning. His message is, ‘it isn’t over, I have plans for your life. I am about to do something new.’
And the same amazing promise applies for us. Sometimes we find ourselves in the wilderness in our lives. The wilderness could look like lots of things – it could be a difficult time of trial, it could be the feeling of separation from God, it could be that you are feeling inadequate, or unworthy. It could even be that you are facing persecution, and exile from your family, or your workplace, or even society.
No matter what your wilderness is, God promises to make a way for you through that wilderness. He promises to make streams in the wastelands.
God is present with you right now, in your wilderness, in the middle of your pain and in your situations. Although you may feel alone and isolated, God is with you always. He promised never to leave you or forsake you.
God loves you as you are, even if you are bruised, or broken, or scorned, and he wants you to have a fresh start in life. He doesn’t want us to be oppressed or held in bondage. He wants us to have a new beginning, a fresh start.
John 10:10 tells us:
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
Turn to someone and say, ‘Thank God for Jesus.’
Because you know what, Jesus is our fresh start. He is our way in the wilderness. Jesus is the streams in the wastelands.
Aren’t you glad that God wants you to have a fresh start in life? Aren’t you glad that he wants to do something new for you?
But so often, when God wants to move us forward, when God wants us to have a new beginning, we hold ourselves back. What God said through Isaiah is that we need to forget what happened before. Forget what happened yesterday, last week, last month, or last year. Forget our failures. Forget our mistakes. Forget our misunderstandings. We can’t change what happened in the past. We can’t re-write history. But we can look forward to the future.
How can we move forward and claim a new beginning?
1. Let go of the past
I’m going to spend a bit of time on this first point, because I think it is an important one.
What are you holding on to? What is keeping you back? Isaiah 43:18 says:
“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.”
We need to let go of the past to move towards the future. Forget the past. Forget the things that are behind. Move past your heartache. Move past your rejection. Move past what people have done to you in the past.
Have you all heard the definition of insanity? It’s when you do the same thing over and over, and expect a different result.
See if you know someone like this – someone who always seems to be in strife. Someone who always seems to have drama around them. Someone who always calls up and talks about the problems that they’re facing, and asking for advice. Someone who you always give advice to, and they never seem to take it. Someone who just seems to create situations where they need help.
Does anyone here know someone like that? Does anyone know someone who just seems to always be in times of trial, but doesn’t take any advice, or doesn’t seem to want to do anything about the situation they’re in?
You know, here’s the catch. We can complain about all the things in the world around us, or the people, or how we are treated. But just stop and think about that for a minute. Can you control any of those things? Can you make someone change? Can you really control the way people treat you?
You can’t, can you. In any circumstance we find ourselves in, the only thing we have control over is ourselves. If we want to make a new beginning, we need to be willing to change a part of ourselves.
But we like to hold onto things. Sometimes we like to hold on to unforgiveness. Sometimes we like to hold on to resent. Sometimes we feel that we get some benefit out of it. Let me explain.
I have worked in aged care for most of my working life. There’s one old lady in particular, who has for many years had a rocky relationship with her daughter. They have fought for many years, and try as she might, she just cannot resolve that relationship. And although relationships are two-way things, she says they have both tried to work it out with no success.
So I get to know this lady a little, and her background, and how she sees herself now. And I can tell you, she is resentful. She holds onto offence, she holds on to pain, she holds on to unforgiveness. Do you know why?
Because it means that the attention is on her. She benefits from the emotions that she goes through because she is holding onto these things. But if you know her, you can tell that it is eating her on the inside. You can see that she is never truly happy, she is never truly at peace with herself. Resent, unforgiveness, and offence, when we hold onto it, is like a prison. It entraps us, and the enemy is the one who has the key. When you are locked up in the prison cell of resent, unforgiveness and offence, we cannot go anywhere. We can’t move forward.
Sometimes I look at some of the nutty ways of my family, and I ask myself how did I cope. But I knew from an early age that to move forward, sometimes you need to break with how things have always been done and just step out in faith.
Sometimes we do things just because that is the way we always have done it. And God has really convicted me of this over the years. I look at how my family operates in some of their nutty ways and traditions, and often they don’t even know why they do it.
When we do things the way we have always done them, we get comfortable. When we hold onto things that we have always held onto, we get comfortable. But there will be times in life when God will call you to something, or call you to somewhere, that will be so different to where you are or what you have done, that you will have to face the discomfort of change.
Just stop and think of the blessings you miss out on if you don’t step out in obedience. We all have a calling in life, and we need to live by that calling, even if it makes us uncomfortable. Even if it means leaving everything we know and love behind.
Hebrews 12:1-2 reads:
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Paul often viewed this life as a race, running forward to the prize for which God has called us. But notice here that the author of Hebrews tells us that we need to throw off everything that hinders, and the sin that so easily entangles. We need to make the choice to get rid of everything that holds us back from running the race.
What are you holding on to that is keeping you back? Resentment? Unforgiveness? Worries? Your failures?
It is so easy to hold on to things we shouldn’t. There is no benefit in holding on to resentment. There is no benefit in holding on to unforgiveness. There is no benefit in holding on to worries, or our failures. In fact, it is more detrimental to us if we do. So the solution is to give it all to God, through prayer, petition and thanksgiving. We are to present our issues to God, and give thanks for his work in our lives.
2. Hold onto the future
Let’s think about Abraham for a minute. In Genesis 12:1 we read:
The Lord had said to Abram, “Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you.”
Notice that God didn’t tell Abraham where he would go. God hadn’t shown him the land yet. He was just told to go.
Can you imagine that! Can you imagine if today, God said to you, “come on, pack up. Leave the Nambucca Valley. Leave your friends and family. Leave your house. And on the way I will show you the land that you will move to.”
But regardless of this lack of information, Abraham obeyed in faith and left.
This is the thing. We don’t know the future. And thankfully so. The only one who knows the future is God. And he may reveal to us bits and pieces from time to time, but the rest is up to us to act in faith and willing obedience to God.
In some ways I can relate to Abraham. Like the family I come from, I got comfortable where I was and in what I was doing. But during a difficult time, God spoke to me in two dreams. In short, he told me that I am to move north, into a new area of ministry, something I haven’t done before. He didn’t give me a location. He didn’t give me a timeframe. He didn’t tell me what job I would have. But I had to step out in obedience, despite my family not understanding what we were doing, and here we are. And I can tell you, I am not looking back.
I understand fully what it is like to be called to a new beginning, to be called to make a big change in life, and I understand how that feels. It makes you feel anxious. It makes you feel uncertain. It can make you feel unsettled, as you don’t know what will happen next in your life. How do we cope with this?
Paul wrote in Philippians 4:6:
Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
Anxiety is not of God. Fear is not of God. Doubt is not of God. These are tactics of the enemy to prevent us from fulfilling God’s purpose in our lives.
We are not born with a spirit of fear. Fear, anxiety and doubt are normal feelings at times, but we don’t need to put up with that. We can hand it all over to the God who has gone before us, and live in confidence that our ever-present help is always with us.
Are you ready for the encouraging bit?
3. Know God’s will for you
You’ll like this bit. I did. And given that I know that I am in shape, it seems really appropriate.
As Christians, we need to be FAT.
F – Faithful. When we think of the people of the Bible, those people who seem larger than life and that were used by the Father, we think we need to be someone special to be used by the God. But take a look at who God used. A corrupt tax collector. A rugged fisherman. In the Old Testament, he used smelly shepherds. God will use you just as you are. God doesn’t call the qualified. He qualifies the called.
A – Available. In addition to being faithful, we need to be available. We need to make ourselves available to God to be used every day. It isn’t something that comes naturally, it is something we need to make the conscious decision to do.
T – Teachable. Looking again at the disciples, the former tax collector and the fisherman, why were these disciples used by God? They were teachable. We too need to be teachable, and learn God’s ways through studying the Word, and applying what it says to our lives.
We have looked at this brief example of the disciples, but we need to know that they understood what God’s will for them was. The only way we can come to know what God’s will for our lives is, is to have a relationship with him, and to spend time with him and his word.
There is a Bible verse that always serves as an encouragement for me. It is a verse that when you don’t know what God’s plan is for you, that you can turn to it and know that even when you feel that life is out of control, God always has been and always will be the God who controls everything.
Read it with me:
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
God’s plans are to prosper you, and not to harm you. How encouraging is that. All the times of trials and suffering we face in life are not from God. They are filtered by God, but remember that God’s plan for you are for you to prosper, and to have hope and a future.
When all else seems to fail. When you find yourself in the deepest pit, and all you feel is despair, helplessness and darkness, remind yourself of that passage.
And be encouraged, that God’s plan will always pull through. God’s plan never fails, despite the mistakes we make, or the attacks from the enemy, or if our motivation falls off. God’s plan never fails. And we can take comfort in knowing that where our sins and mistakes are, God’s grace is more than sufficient to cover them.
It took all of the Old Testament for God’s ultimate plan to be orchestrated. I don’t know if Jeremiah really realised this when God spoke to him, but God’s ultimate plan for a new beginning was, and is, Jesus Christ.
The ultimate new beginning is in Jesus Christ himself. 2 Corinthians 5:17 tells us:
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!
When we confess with our mouths that Jesus is Lord, and believe in our hearts that he rose from the dead, we are made a new creation. We die to our old selves, and we are made completely new by his grace and mercy. In accepting Christ as Lord, we no longer have to hold on to fear, resentment, anxiety, or doubt. We have a completely restored relationship with our Heavenly Father. We can give it all over to him. No longer do we have to face our trials alone, because he is with us.
And because of Jesus, we have hope, we have a future and we will prosper. This is his will for us, this is his purpose for our lives. He wants to bless us. He came so we can have life, and have it in the full. He wants to spend eternity with us. He wants us to have everlasting life in his glorious presence.
There is no greater new beginning than this.
