Begin Again

[By Sharon Frame]


Scripture Of The Day: "Behold I do a new thing. Now it shall spring forth; shall you not know it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.” - Isaiah 43:19

The desperate father refused to eat or drink. For days he laid prostrate on the floor of his house and wept. He begged God to heal his sick child. After all, it was HIS sin of adultery that had angered the Almighty. The child was innocent. But heaven showed no mercy. The baby boy died seven days later.

It was a most scandalous crime. King David had an alliance with a married woman. The bewitching Bathsheba got pregnant. David had her husband killed to cover up his tracks and claim her as his new wife. But then the word of God came and convicted him.

King David agonized over his son while the child was alive. But when he drew his last breath, David stopped mourning. He got up from the floor, washed his face and went to the temple to worship God. He then went home and ate a big meal. His quick recovery shocked his servants. How could he shut the door to his loss so fast? But what was done was done. David would waste no more time living in regret. It was time to begin again. Some people choose to pitch a tent around their failures and camp out.

David wasn’t having that. He decided to accept God’s forgiveness, and release his guilt and emotional baggage. That’s the only way he could move forward.

What is it that you insist on holding on to that God has instructed you to let go? Is it a destructive relationship? a bad habit? No amount of prayer or fasting will make it good. God says release it. It stands in the way of your new beginning.

This New Year doesn’t need to be saddled with old baggage. Take a cue from King David. He took three key steps to begin again.

First, the moment his son died, David released his guilt and grief. Suddenly, he saw clearly enough to reconnect to his true purpose. And that was simply to serve God.

Ecclesiastes 12:13 says: “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep His commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.”

David’s sin had severed his fellowship with God and blocked his vision. Once he fully released it, he went straight to “church” to worship.  That was the second step David took. He got refreshed.

Each new day, God gives us 86,400 seconds to refresh, to begin again. Unlike your vacation days or cell phone minutes, these seconds don’t roll over. You can’t accumulate time. Spend it living your purpose not regretting your past.

The day you release and refresh, is the day you begin to reclaim right-standing with God. This third step is the only way to true peace and prosperity. Reclaiming right-standing simply means to accept God’s forgiveness, and forgive yourself! This was key to David’s deliverance.

No matter how shameful our past failures, God urges us to begin again. Here is an amazing irony: From the ashes of our “mess,” God can create something marvelous.

David didn’t want to lose his child, even though it symbolized his “mess.” God replaced him with Solomon, the second child born to David and Bathsheba. Solomon would rise to become one of the greatest rulers of ancient Israel and the wisest man in the world during his time.

What personal greatness might you be holding up because you won’t release old hurts and failures? The birth of your “Solomon” cannot occur while you linger in the grave yard of your past mistakes. The lord said in Isaiah 43:19, “Behold I do a new thing. Now it shall spring forth; shall you not know it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.” 


God has made a way for us to release, refresh and reclaim our rightful place in Him. Now is the time to begin again.



What God is trying to do with the things that He has provided—namely, the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ and the gift of His Holy Spirit—is to motivate man to repent—to change, to turn to God, to resist the desire to continue in sin—to work at building character and learn to live by faith. ~ John W. Ritenbaugh
 
Be Blessed!
 
Dawn