The simple three letter word – NEW – brings excitement. But new is only new because we have experienced old, it’s the old that prepares us.
As the year comes to a close, I wait in prayer for God’s direction for the coming year. That direction comes from a single word or phrase that He speaks to my heart. Usually anticipation is stirred, yet never is it fully understood till that year is coming to completion. I have found each year builds upon the next.
Examples are found all around us. Every mother, human, bird or animal, prepares for the little one growing within. As she steps into a new season of life, first her body and then environment is readied for that new life. Every skyscraper begins with a plan and slowly rises to its glory as every acquisition and placement is meticulously overseen. And every career is achieved only by understanding and applying subject levels, one at a time.
Each of these examples requires determination, hard work, stuggles and painful failures. However the hoped for outcome drives and encourages the embracing of joy-filled anticipation. We chose not to dwell on the past but to accept that past as preparation; a prerequisite for what is ahead. We look forward to the NEW that stands before us.
So today, as you look back at the past year don’t slam the door with a “good riddance” declaration; instead embrace it as preparation for the NEW that is ahead. Be thankful for your past year of struggle or abundance for it has been your preparation for the NEW – the NEW that a loving God has planned for you. Trust Him that He is preparing you for His plans and purposes. Where ever that may take you, trust that He will make a way.
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.” (Isaiah 43:18–19, NIV)
Unearthing His Treasures 