Wednesday, May 25, 2005
A New Beginning Starts Today
For one hundred twenty years, Noah’s life revolved around making the ark, then sailing the tub. He had grown accustomed to the swing of the hammer. Then the rain raised the water and the ark floated.
Then the rain stopped and the water receded. And Noah stepped out into a new world. His eyes needed time to adjust to the sun. He’d just witnessed a flood. Mankind had drowned in his own bathtub.
There was evidence of death all around. Yesterday tainted the new day, and the earth flapped like a sheet on a Midwest clothesline.
It must have been strange for Noah, but out of this period of uncertainty, a new beginning emerged. Trees blossomed. Grass stood tall. Turtles climbed from the ark with gothic motions. Birds rediscovered the branch of a tree. They perched and looked around in horror at the devastation of the flood.
Maybe you’ve had the same look of horror. You’ve been through a devastating divorce. You’ve made a misstep into the darkness. Now you are on the other side of it. The landscape looks bleak. Maybe you let someone down. You hurt a friend. You walked away at a critical time.
Or perhaps something went terribly wrong. Now you have only the devastation and the faint hope of a new beginning. But don’t get spooked. Even though the world seems and looks different, it’s the same place, the same trees, the same old problems. But now you are ready to face and overcome them.
God has a plan for your life. This is only a new beginning. And this is what we are really after—a new beginning to become who we really are. To be brave, to quench the thirsty demon inside that tells us we are not worthy, the one that binds us to a desolate life.
And the one place where strength for this journey can be found is in the living power. “For the word of God is full of living power. It is sharper than the sharpest knife, cutting deep into our innermost thoughts and desires. It exposes us for what we really are” (Hebrews 4:12).
www.stofel.com
Then the rain stopped and the water receded. And Noah stepped out into a new world. His eyes needed time to adjust to the sun. He’d just witnessed a flood. Mankind had drowned in his own bathtub.
There was evidence of death all around. Yesterday tainted the new day, and the earth flapped like a sheet on a Midwest clothesline.
It must have been strange for Noah, but out of this period of uncertainty, a new beginning emerged. Trees blossomed. Grass stood tall. Turtles climbed from the ark with gothic motions. Birds rediscovered the branch of a tree. They perched and looked around in horror at the devastation of the flood.
Maybe you’ve had the same look of horror. You’ve been through a devastating divorce. You’ve made a misstep into the darkness. Now you are on the other side of it. The landscape looks bleak. Maybe you let someone down. You hurt a friend. You walked away at a critical time.
Or perhaps something went terribly wrong. Now you have only the devastation and the faint hope of a new beginning. But don’t get spooked. Even though the world seems and looks different, it’s the same place, the same trees, the same old problems. But now you are ready to face and overcome them.
God has a plan for your life. This is only a new beginning. And this is what we are really after—a new beginning to become who we really are. To be brave, to quench the thirsty demon inside that tells us we are not worthy, the one that binds us to a desolate life.
And the one place where strength for this journey can be found is in the living power. “For the word of God is full of living power. It is sharper than the sharpest knife, cutting deep into our innermost thoughts and desires. It exposes us for what we really are” (Hebrews 4:12).
www.stofel.com
© 2007 by Robert Stofel
2 Comments:
Read it just when I needed it most.
Thanks for the uplift.
Thanks for the uplift.
We all have trial but then Gods plan and purpose for these turn in to triumph with continued Faith and putting into action what we read in his word to us! Thankyou! Very encouraging!
Lisa
Lisa