2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!

Some years I really have to seek the Lord for what the Verse for the Year should be, but this time He just dropped this into my heart when I wasn’t even particularly concerned about it. We tend to be very conflicted about newness. In some areas we tend to want the latest thing, and in some areas we are comfortable with the familiar. That also tends to shift with the age of the observer, with younger people more in favor of the new, and older people hanging onto the familiar. The interesting thing is that God embodies that paradox. As He told Malachi, “I the Lord do not change.” (Malachi 3:6) However, as He told John, “I am making everything new!” (Revelation 21:5) To go to what Paul says in this verse, those who are in Christ are made new precisely because they acquire the unshakable, unchanging foundation of the God who created them in the first place. As many Bible writers noted, we are entirely transient in this earth, often compared to desert grasses that can sprout, bloom, and wither within a single day. It is only when we are anchored in the Rock of our salvation that we acquire permanence, and that is not for this life, but for eternity. It is natural to fear change, but when we are settled on what and who we are in Christ, we can welcome the new with joy, knowing that our God not only doesn’t change, He is totally loving and good, as well as totally holy and just. In Christ we are never chained to what has been, including what we have been, but we look forward to a new heaven and a new earth, as it says in Revelation 21:1.

I am definitely to an age where the old and familiar is more comfortable, so I have to choose to look forward to and accept the new. It has been widely said that the only constant is change. That is true only from some perspectives, and I need to stay anchored in my unchanging Lord. I need to remember what the Lord told me personally over 20 years ago. I was lying in bed, not consciously praying but just thinking, “There are so many things I wish were different.” As clearly as if He had been a person standing beside me, I heard the Lord say, “How do you think I feel?” It was quite a shock, and only the second time I had heard Him speak like that. However, it gave me a great peace that He isn’t pleased with a lot of what is going on, but He has a solution for everything, and I just need to trust Him. It is interesting that at this very moment, all sorts of things in the world that have been in violation of His character are being exposed, not just in the US but in nations around the world. That kind of new is welcome indeed! I am not to get tied in knots over how things are, or how it seems like they might be, but rather trust God to bring about His perfect plans, on His schedule for His glory.

Father, thank You for this reminder, and for this new year. Thank You that the watchnight service went well last night, though there were certainly some unexpected elements. You have indicated that You are making some changes, on a number of different levels. Help me not fear any of it, nor try to make things happen on my schedule, but rather flow with Your Spirit on Your schedule, so that I may be fully useful to You, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!