I remember one morning, about two years ago, I had taken our car for an oil change. It was very early, and I was the first and only customer at the car shop. Now, our mechanic and his wife happen to be very good friends of ours, but on this particular day, I was sitting outside at the picnic table, alone. The sun was coming up over the horizon, the grass was swaying as if it were the only one who happened to feel the Spirit that morning. I was so dry and so weary. So dry and so weary that I don't even think I realized the depth of the sand in my desert land. Parched. And as the golden rays seemed to take over the darkness of the shadows of the trees, I heard:
I make all things new.
I make all things new.
And with a word, He sent a spark of joy to my soul. A spark I had not felt in a long time.
Lord, you do make all things new.
And I clung to that promise for two more years as God began to unfold His plans for our lives.
I still have so much of the story to tell! I stopped with telling you all about my near-death experience in my driveway, and I am going to finish that story and move forward. But, I had to fill you in on the move, the house, etc.
And today, I wanted to share this with you.
As I was thinking, the Lord showed me that He said He makes all things new, not different, new.
What is the difference?
I looked up the words.
Different: not the same as another, unlike in nature, form or quality.
New: not existing before, made, introduced or discovered recently or now for the first time.
Then, the verses flood my mind: "Therefore, if anyone be in Christ, He is a new creation, the old is gone, the new has come." (II Cor. 5:17), "I make all things new." (Rev. 21:5), and "Look! I am doing a new thing! Do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and a stream in the desert." (Is. 43:19).
I make all things new.
For now, God has provided a different home, a different church, different friends, a different theater, a different job. . .a different view:
Lord, you do make all things new.
And I clung to that promise for two more years as God began to unfold His plans for our lives.
I still have so much of the story to tell! I stopped with telling you all about my near-death experience in my driveway, and I am going to finish that story and move forward. But, I had to fill you in on the move, the house, etc.
And today, I wanted to share this with you.
As I was thinking, the Lord showed me that He said He makes all things new, not different, new.
What is the difference?
I looked up the words.
Different: not the same as another, unlike in nature, form or quality.
New: not existing before, made, introduced or discovered recently or now for the first time.
Then, the verses flood my mind: "Therefore, if anyone be in Christ, He is a new creation, the old is gone, the new has come." (II Cor. 5:17), "I make all things new." (Rev. 21:5), and "Look! I am doing a new thing! Do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and a stream in the desert." (Is. 43:19).
I make all things new.
For now, God has provided a different home, a different church, different friends, a different theater, a different job. . .a different view:
But what does He really make new? He makes you new. He makes me new. When we ask Him to come into our lives, He makes it all new. And he doesn't stop there. He makes our circumstances new. He gives us a garment of praise for our heaviness and beauty for our ashes (Is. 61:3). Yes, it is different for us. But, it is also new. A new church, new friends, a new job. New. Just like He said it would be.
So, as I rise up from washing my face, and I grab the towel off the rack, I look at it, it's new.
So, as I rise up from washing my face, and I grab the towel off the rack, I look at it, it's new.
Yes, new. A reminder that He keeps His promises. He makes all things new.
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