NEW YEAR; NEW YOU. Making all things new.
Do you believe in second chances? Our God sure does, and I have personal experience to back that up. Sometimes it is hard to know, and even accept this truth because we can mess up so bad or take umbrage with the “hand we’ve been dealt” because it doesn’t seem fair. It feels like there is no way our messes can actually be redeemed or restored. But God is in the redemption and restoration business.
If you’re human I can guess that 2024 presented some sharp challenges and lingering adversity that sideswiped for even the most grounded, confident, and prayerful of us. And that’s not wrong. In fact, it’s to be expected. God even assures us, “in this world there will be trouble” John 16:33. It doesn’t matter how good you are, you can’t avoid suffering in this world. There are far too many opportunities for things to go wrong, whether it’s fair or not. This seems like the perfect time to inject the overused cliché “we live in a broken world”. So, is that it? We’re just supposed to roll over and accept all the world throws at us? Certainly not.
As the title of this article references, God is constantly making all things NEW, which is repeated four times in the bible. Isaiah 43:19, Revelation 21:5, Lamentations 3:23, and Romans 6:4. Trusting God for this renewal is our job, his is making a way for the new to burst through!
Second chances are all around us. It’s our mindset that needs to intentionally believe it and courage to risk taking that chance, especially when we’ve been hurt by it in the past. So how do we do this? It’s clearly laid out for us, we have a blueprint for making these happen in 2 Corinthians 10:5 “take every thought captive”. When we have a negative or upsetting thought (by the way we have approximately 40,000 thoughts per day, 75% of these are negative and 90% of those are on repeat!), grab that thought as soon as you can, don’t entertain it or let it spiral into the pit of bitterness and resentment. Grab it and renew it, make it new. Think on things in your life that are better. I’m not talking about toxic positivity, simply thinking “happy thoughts” doesn’t take away the misery or make any lasting change. In psychology the system for our outcomes looks like this: our thoughts trigger our feelings, our feelings trigger our beliefs, our beliefs trigger our behaviours/actions, which gives us a result. If we want a DIFFERENT RESULT, we’ll have to have different thoughts. Reverse engineer this process. Think on the result you want. Then choose thoughts that are true, right, noble, excellent, praiseworthy, and pure. This will trigger better feelings. Anchor your feelings in beliefs that are helpful, encouraging, and aligned with your values. Then take action that will move you forward in a healthier and more sustainable way. Your results will be better.
Our Co-Editor and Founder of BE Magazine, Brigitte Foisy, just recently got married over the holiday season…congratulations Brigitte and Eric! After being divorced for more than a decade to a “man of cloth” old school language for Pastor, God redeemed marriage for her. He restored her. And made all things new. This is the power of our God!
Don’t be dismayed over your challenges, adversity, or mistakes. Believe that new things are possible. Do what you can to courageously take action and look for ways to forgive, have grace, redeem, and restore that which has been broken. It is possible.
Happy New Year friends. Or better yet, lean into a God who desires a more noble, pure, healthier YOU!
