The First of a New Thing

 

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.