He Cheated but He Renews નમૂનો

Renewal. What does that even mean, or how does it make sense in the middle of grief or pain? If the definition of renewal in Webster's Dictionary is “resuming an activity or state after an interruption,” then how do we resume our life as we know it if something traumatic such as infidelity or trauma has interrupted us? How do we pick up and continue or know which direction to take that seems so far out of our reach?

In my walk with Christ, there have been several deep, painful interruptions that have caused great grief, like the death of my father, a brain tumor, infidelity in my marriage, divorce, verbal abuse as a child—you name it and it feels like I have walked through it. These circumstances have prompted serious, deep conversations with God about what "next" actually looks like amid my trials. What will the next season entail, where is my next destination, what is my next journey, when will I find love again, Lord? There have been moments when I have not known my path, or even which fork to take in the road, but as I have journeyed with the Lord, I can always trust that God will step in and create a third option for me, and oftentimes it doesn’t look like either of the two original options I had envisioned for myself!

Another thing that I have learned is that God does not want to renew, but He wants to MAKE US NEW! Renewal is a process of reinstating something, but before He can reinstate anything in your life God must first be able to make your heart new, your spirit new, your mind new, or you will be entering your next season with baggage and trauma from the past; and there is nothing new about past traumas and pain. He wants to take all your "pieces of baggage" and transform them into peace, trust, and joy. He wants to use all of your trials and turn them into testimonies. He wants to renew your mind by the transformation of your heart by making you new in Christ Jesus.

If you fully relinquish your old and step into the season of acceptance, He will be able to fully create beauty from ashes.