Getting a fresh start!
Letting God work through your life while you wait on His timing!
A lot of us have messed up at some point or another in our lives. We all want a clean slate, and we want to start new! God gives us this chance when we begin our relationship with Him. It is so important for us to give God time to work through our lives and for us to stay faithful and loyal to Him!
“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 43:19
“Hit the reset button. Whatever happened yesterday, forget about it. Get a new perspective. Today is a new day. Fresh start, begins now.”
- Germany Kent
For this post, we will be in Acts 9 when Saul heard Jesus’ voice!
There are 4 things to understand about fresh starts:
fresh starts always address the heart of the problem!
“As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?’ ‘Who are you, Lord?’ Saul asked. ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,’ he replied. ‘Now get upend go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.’” Acts 9:3-6
Jesus will bring you from death to life when He gives you a fresh start - the heart of Saul’s problem was a problem in his heart. Saul was incredibly educated and respected by his group of people, yet he was dead in his sins. Don’t let that be you! Don’t put your studies, your friends, or your worldly desires before God.
fresh starts grow privately before they’re felt publicly!
“The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone. Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing. So they led him by the hand into Damascus. For three days he was blind, and did not eat or drink anything.” Acts 9:7-9
Saul needed time to process what he had seen before he went and told people what had happened. If you go public to start with, then you make it a performance rather than a true fresh start. In other words, you are making it public to get attention rather than lead others to Christ.
“You have searched me, Lord, and you know me. Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” Psalm 139:1, 23-24
If God is moving in your life, give Him time to work before you start posting it for everyone to see.
you don’t justify your fresh start, God does!
Jesus approached Ananias in a vision asking him to restore Saul’s vision. Ananias, having heard the stories about Saul persecuting Christians, did not want to do it.
“But the Lord said to Ananias, ‘Go! This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel.” Acts 9:15
Let your fresh start speak for itself. People will notice how God has changed your life. Stop trying to justify a fresh start that Jesus already paid for on the cross.
“When he (Saul) came to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he really was a disciple. But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles. He told them how Saul on his journey had seen the Lord and that the Lord had spoken to him, and how in Damascus he had preached fearlessly in the name of Jesus.” Acts 9:26-27
fresh starts take time!
People don’t start referring to Saul as “Paul” until Acts 13. That is about 11 years! He had to live with his old reputation for a long time until people truly changed their opinions on him.
“being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” Philippians 1:6
No matter what we want a fresh start from, God can do it. It will take time, but we just have to trust God and his timing. As seen from Paul’s story, he started by killing the same group of people he ended preaching to. God can take anybody in any way of life and use them to share His Word. I challenge you, if you are going through a rough patch in life, that you would pray to God and ask Him to deliver you from your struggles. God hears your prayers, and He will answer them on his time! Don’t quit! God is doing something in your life that you may not realize yet.
“Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.” 2 Corinthians 4:16-17
“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33
A new day is on the horizon. If you can see it, I can see it, we can be it, I believe it. Nothing gonna stand in our way. A new day is on the horizon.
“Horizon (A New Day)” - TobyMac
He is always doing a new thing! for His mercies are new every morning & His steadfast love endures forever (Lamentations 2:22-24)! may He open my eyes daily to the new thing He is doing in my life & may I not live stuck in the past. 💒🍯⛅️🥰 love you!