Renew (transitive verb): restore to freshness, vigor, or perfection; to make new spiritually; to make extensive changes in
This is a continuation from a previous post…if you didn’t read that yet, please click here: RELEASE
Release is necessary in order for God to restore, repair, and renew me. Only through release does my hand then become open to receive.
Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? Isaiah 43:18-19
First, let go. Second, be ready for something new….
What is this “new thing” that God promises?
- Perhaps when we release bitterness, anger, or unforgiveness…God will renew a broken relationship.
- Perhaps when we release our burdens, shame, or guilt…God will renew our identity in Christ or renew a sense of purpose for our lives.
- Perhaps when we release our fear, worry, or regret…God will restore our Faith or our trust in Him.
Perhaps it will be so much more than any of this! It’s difficult to know what “new thing” God will bring into our lives once we’ve made room for it.
I can easily recall times in my life showcasing God’s great gift to RENEW.
My first story comes from a few years ago, while attending a Christian Women’s retreat. After a full day of fellowship, small group discussion, and bible study, we ended the retreat with a true “hands-on” event. Each of us poured sticky chocolate syrup on our hands, then smeared it all around our palms. We were instructed to consider this mess as our sin. Then we each went forward to a station in the room where a woman waited with a bin of hot washcloths.
I approached with wet eyes. I knew my sin was way bigger than the mess on my hands. Tears flowed out of the shame and guilt in my heart. As I presented my hands, the woman prayed over me as she washed them completely clean. She reminded me how much God loved me. Her actions helped me release my shame, and I walked away weeping with relief, joy, and hope. A sense of restoration and renewal filled me.
I had released the shame of certain sins.
My “new thing” in return? In the words of Dr. Seuss, my heart “grew three sizes” that day.
Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Psalm 51:10
On another occasion, I was participating in a month-long class at my church on the topic of Forgiveness. I naively went into the class thinking in general that I was a pretty forgiving person, but was quickly confronted (in my head, not by a specific person) about a grudge I had been holding for many years. This bitterness had been stewing in my soul for a long time, as I awaited an acknowledgement from someone else about the harm they had caused me. A confession of wrong-doing that was never going to come.
I heard the phrase “holding back forgiveness is like drinking poison and hoping it will harm the other person”.
MIC DROP
I realized the poison I carried was only hurting me. I wrote out a letter of forgiveness to the person who hurt me, and one of forgiveness to myself. I presented the letters to God as confession of my sin. He received them gladly.
I had released the bitterness causing the poisonous wall around my heart.
My “new thing” in return? A renewed ability to trust others and a deeper intimacy with Christ.
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! 2 Corinthians 5:17
When my boys were younger, we enjoyed collecting rocks. During a weekend trip to Duluth, Minnesota, we spent many hours scouring the shoreline for unique stones. The most colorful ones were found right where the water lapped against the land. Upon our return home, I was quite amazed when we pulled out our collection to reveal a bucketful of dull, lackluster rocks. Why? Because when they were wet, their true radiance had been revealed to us.
I had a fleeting thought… had I only imagined these rocks were that beautiful? But then I looked closer, and could see it there, the amazing pattern waiting to be revealed again through the exposure to water.
As I thought about the word RENEW, this memory of the rocks emerged. We are like these rocks. We need to be washed by his Word every day for the renewal of our minds and souls.
We need to be cleansed daily by the Living Water for our true beauty to be revealed.
By spending time with God each day, digging into His Word, releasing our “former things”, we invite Him to do a “new thing” in us and through us.
Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. Romans 12:2