Beginning Again
I’m going to say something about me, but hold on; I am really saying something about you – about all of us – and the goodness of living with God.
I love writing. It isn’t always easy, but I love it. It helps me think and helps me discern what is good and true. Almost a year and a half ago I had to stop writing though. In August of 2020, the demands of what I was attempting to accomplish with our church – finish the build of a ministry house, finish “The Song,” prepare for our church’s ten year anniversary, get our church administratively as ready for our departure as possible, finish renovating our house to get it ready to sell, and clarify what was coming next, all while continuing the regular ministry within our church and community that had become so much more difficult with COVID – all got to be too much for me to continue anything that was non-essential (I hate using that term, but it unfortunately fits). There was no space in life for anything extra.
Life will put most of us in this place at some point. Other occupations can become this demanding at times… but so can newborns, family illnesses, and unfortunately, life crises.
One of the important things in these situations is to recognize when to Begin Again. When do we start fully living again on the other side of the disruptive, all-in situation?
Beginning Again is a Christian practice that God is always holding out to us. We can see the invitation to Begin Again in the cross and the resurrection – after all, in the cross and the resurrection, Jesus wasn’t coming to rescue us from God, but the Holy Trinity was coming to rescue us from ourselves – but God has always been inviting us to start new, to Begin Again. God still is, in this very moment continuing to invite us to Begin Again. It is arguably the most important and beautiful habits of the Christian life.
Beginning Again is when we BOTH recognize that we are off track, out of balance, or wrong AND take our first step into a new way.
The age-old word for Beginning Again is called “repentance,” but unfortunately our common conception of that term has been loaded down with baggage it was never meant to carry. Psalm 32:5 says, “I acknowledged my sin (my shortcomings, my flaws, wrongness, my out-of-sortness, off track-ness, etc.)… and God forgave me (gave me a fresh new start).” Isaiah 1:17 says, “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow.” In other words, fresh starts are ours for the asking.
Don’t let the narrow understanding of the word “sin” as gross moral failure distract you from what God is saying and offering us here. Every other religion in the world says that our yesterdays clings to us, but the Bible tells us that God our maker is chasing us down with an endless supply of do-overs – if we will only accept them.
Almost two years ago today, I wrote “Habits VS Goals.” I think it is a good read and it has something to say to me today. I love having big goals, stepping them out into smaller goals and then running them down and crossing them off. It’s not a bad thing and can be quite useful in certain circumstances, but left unchallenged and un-contained it can lead to a lopsided soul. It is a trait that needs regular pruning, balancing out, and keeping in check so that it doesn’t drag me away from the with-God life.
So today, after a year and a half of what I’ll call “the big push” I am Beginning Again. It is time to start fully living again on the other side of the disruptive, all-in situation. I am saying yes to God’s invitation to start again. Among other things, I am starting again my old habit of writing about the Christian Life. I hope you are as excited as I am!
What would it look like in your life for you to say yes to the Christian practice of Beginning Again after a big push, a crises, a failing, or a distraction? Hold your life before God and know that fresh starts are yours for the asking.
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