Writing a new story

Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end. (Seneca)

So don’t remember what happened in earlier times. Don’t think about what happened a long time ago, because I am doing something new! (Isaiah 43:18-19)

Does the past seem to disappoint you? Sometimes the pain from the past lingers well into the present, making it almost impossible for us to escape the disappointment we have experienced. Disappointment doesn't always come from an action of another - it frequently is linked to some action we have taken ourselves. If someone else has brought the disappointment, it is well past the time to forgive and move on. If you have caused that deep disappointment, it is time you confess it, relinquish it to God, and begin to move forward, don't you think?

God's plan has always been to keep us focused forward, not on what lies behind. He isn't doing the 'new thing' in the past, he is doing it in the present. Forward-focused individuals find it difficult to hold onto things that only clutter their memories and flood their emotions with unhealthy hormones. They desire to be free, and they take steps to live free. Those who want to remain rear facing will only find the disappointment growing deeper and the anguish of emotional attachment to that disappointment growing, as well. No one should live bound to the past - it is history (HIS Story) - let him deal with it and rewrite the pages of your life as he sees you NOW.

Some other beginning's end - there is always an end, but sometimes it means we have to let go of the thing that has ended in order to be embraced by the new that has come. It is only as we let go that we are free to be embraced fully. Try being embraced by someone when your arms are full of a pile of linens. Can they fully embrace you? Not really. Can you return the embrace? Nope. So, in order to be fully embraced, you have to let go of what you are carrying. The disappointment of yesterday has absolutely no place in the new thing God is doing in your life today. It happened - it is over - now it is time to move on. Just sayin!

Doing more than enduring

"Sometimes you get to what you thought was the end and you find it's a whole new beginning." (Anne Tyler as seen on www.facebook/tobymac) 

This is so true - we think we finally make it to the "end" of something only to find a new door opening where one is closing, another roller-coaster loop to traverse just when we thought we were done with "all that fun", or something totally unexpected and phenomenal that wows us and leaves us breathless in awe.  We might have even uttered the oft familiar words, "When will this ever end," and hoped with all our might for some resolution to come quickly. What we are wishing for is just for some "break" so we can catch our breath again.  We know the pressures will come again because as sure as we count on the peace, there is more of whatever gives us grief somewhere lurking just ahead!  Some authors will tell you as one book comes to an end for them and it is finally sent to the presses for publication, it as though they have given birth - but most of us realize that birth is just the beginning!  What is to come is not yet known - what will be birthed from what has been born is somewhere down the road.  Nothing truly comes to an end.

The words of the wise are like goads; the collected sayings of the masters are like the nail-tipped sticks used to drive the sheep, given by one Shepherd. So be warned, my child, of anything else that might be said! There is no end to writing books, and excessive study only exhausts the body. And, when all is said and done, here is the last word: worship in reverence the one True God, and keep His commands, for this is what God expects of every person. (Ecclesiastes 12:11-13 VOICE)

If things we counted on (or may didn't actually count on) reaching some sort of end really are just new beginnings, how is it we are to prepare ourselves to be ready for the next phase of what is to come?  I think the answer lies somewhere in how it is we begin to view "endings".  As I watch a movie on TV, it can spark a range of emotions from leaving me feeling "warm and fuzzy" on the inside, to having just a little sense of my nerve endings being on high alert.  Each ended, but one ended kind of "nicely", while the other left me with some unanswered questions, concerns I didn't really have before watching it, etc.  It is the purpose of the writer to "goad us" into some sort of response - like heartfelt tears, a sense of uneasiness, exhilaration over the endured thrill, or kindled desire.  Endings are then just new beginnings - bringing us to new places, with the experience of new emotions, and the whole gamut of questions which must be answered as we move on.

If we begin to see endings as beginnings, we might just face them a little bit differently - for when we begin to anticipate there is a new possibility awaiting us when one door closes and a new one opens, we are less likely to just stand there without knocking!  As our writer implies in our passage today, men go about making endless assumptions - often capturing these assumptions in books and in volumes of scientific publications, research articles, and summaries of posed philosophies.  We can exhaust ourselves with the "what ifs" of life - never really experiencing life because we are so caught up in finding an end that we miss all that comes in between!

As we await an "end", it is always best for us to remember what it is we are expected to do while we are waiting:  "Worship in reverence the one True God, and keep his commends, for this is what God expects of every person."  Reaching an end doesn't mean we cease the important activity of "obedience".  Obedience is not measured in having made it to the end, or through something "successfully".  It is measured by each "block" of obedience, one building upon the other - moving us from one "structure" to another.  All of life is about "adding to" and "taking away from".  We need to be attentive to add the right stuff and leave behind the other things which only get in the way and weigh us down needlessly.

Too many times we think, "Well, that is finally over," but God is thinking, "Well, now let's add a little bit of this, so you have the opportunity to add to what you just learned."  When we learn to see each ending as a new possibility for us to see something added to our present obedience, we might just see them as things we will do more than "endure through".  They will become the means by which we draw closer to God, learn of his great love, and hold closely to his hand as we navigate unfamiliar paths.  Just sayin!

Without any degree of separation

Ever start stuff and then somewhere along the way it never quite makes it to "finished"?  I have lots of these projects!  I wanted to learn to crochet - well that isn't gonna happen since I live in Arizona and would never wear one thing I could make!  I wanted to learn to paint with water colors - another wayside project abandoned somewhere between learning to sketch and outline and actually having the talent to do it!  I wanted to learn how to take care of a car's engine - I got about ten percent into this one when I discovered these things are way too complicated anymore for me to do more than drive it to the local Jiffy Lube for an oil change!  I guess we all have those "start" and "stop" moments in life - when we realize we bit off more than we could chew, or just plain didn't know what we were getting into.  What isn't up to us "getting through" is this thing called "salvation".  You see, God began that work, so we can all be assured it will be finished - and finished well!

I am confident that the Creator, who has begun such a great work among you, will not stop in mid-design but will keep perfecting you until the day Jesus the Anointed, our Liberating King, returns to redeem the world. (Philippians 1:6 VOICE)

Begin:  To perform the first or earliest part of any action.  If the "beginning" part of our salvation is in God's hands, in the work he accomplished at the cross, then it is off to the best start!  If it were up to us, I'm sure we would find some way to make it as complicated, but as painless as possible.  If it were us having to die on the cross, we'd find some other means!  

Great:  Unusual in power, intensity, or degree; first-rate; remarkable; exceptionally outstanding.  The things we begin in life may not exactly measure up to things others would consider "remarkable" or "first-rate".  In fact, if I look around at the things I have begun in my life, I'd have to say what I envisioned as being "first rate" when I started sort of made it to not more than "third rate" at best!  The power God has behind his plans for our lives is better than anything we could muster up on our own.  In fact, the plans themselves are "first-rate"!

Keep:  To hold in a given place.  I think it is important for us to realize God gives us our place of "right-standing" with him, not based on our own merit, but on the gift of grace he extends to us through the blood of his dear Son, Jesus.  It is a "placement" which is straight from his hands - we didn't do anything to achieve it.  If we were the ones achieving that "place" in life, we'd constantly have to struggle to keep ourselves in that place.  The truth of the matter is that we cannot "keep" (hold in place) our "right-standing" with God - only he can (and does) do that!

Perfecting:  Conforming absolutely (without degree of separation) to the definition of an ideal type (Christ). What God begins in us is this "conforming" process of making us like Christ in every way - because he sees us without any degree of "separation".  We see ourselves with many degrees of separation - but in God's eyes, he only sees us as he views his dear Son, Jesus.  There is no difference in how he sees us because we become one with Christ in salvation - there are no longer any degrees of separation!  

We might think what is begun will never get to completion in our lives, but what seems impossible to us is actually already accomplished in God's eyes! We don't always see the evidence of what he has set in motion, but we can trust him to finish what he has begun!  Just sayin!