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We’ve just past the annual season when parents post those sweet first day pictures for the new school year. More than documenting the milestones, the parents’ rituals set the tone for the new school year.
The first of every
new thing tends to set the tone for that thing.
The first day of pre-school.
The first week of
college.
The first month of a
new job.
The first year of
marriage.
The first fiscal quarter
of retirement.
The first month of a
new diagnosis.
The first week of New
Year goals.
The first day of a
trip.
The first bit of any
new thing gives us a taste of how it will be. It reveals how we think about it.
Our enthusiasm or trepidation often paves the way of the new season. The tone
of our new normals is set early.
Sometimes we experience
another kind of new season when God “does a new thing.” The history of the
Jewish people included such times. Isaiah 43 records a time when God told them
to forget the past because He was going to do a new thing for them. Verse 19
says
Look, I am about to do something new; even now
it is coming. Do you not see it? Indeed, I will make a way in the wilderness,
rivers, in the desert.
Even today, He still
does new things in us. It might be a new habit or a new topic to study or a new
perspective, a new way to serve others or it might be a fresh start. It might
be a new season in our lives that we have dreamed about and planned for. Sometimes
He allows seasons that we didn’t choose and never wanted. But with all of it,
we can find Him there beside us, sometimes even carrying us.
Whatever new thing is starting
in your life right now, ask Him to walk beside you. Reach out for His hand. Nothing
else will help you in your next new season like knowing He’s there. Set
the tone for it.
