Bestlife: 5 Days of Inspiration to Live Your Best LifeSample

Do Something New

And whenever the clay would not take the shape he wanted, he would change his mind and form it into some other shape.

—Jeremiah 18:4

I recently visited Alaska’s capital of Juneau. I learned there is no way to get to Juneau by car. The only way to reach the state’s capital is by air or ship. Almost half of Alaska’s population lives in Anchorage, but that is not the capital.

The only major highway in the state goes to Anchorage, allowing people the easiest access, yet Alaskans have never changed their capital to Anchorage. Why not? I don’t know the answer, but I think it has something to do with insanity.

Actually, the classic definition of insanity is to repeat the same thing the same way and expect different results. It is amazing how much this happens in the church and in our own lives. Time and time again, we expect God to do something new while we keep doing the same thing we have always done!

Jeremiah 18:4 says, And whenever the clay would not take the shape he wanted, he would change his mind and form it into some other shape—a new shape. Praying for God to work is great and believing God for growth is right—but there are times when it takes something new.

There was a time when our church experienced an unusual number of people with serious illnesses, so we had two special healing services. The services were powerful, but God wanted us to do more. I felt led to do something we had never done before.

We decided to change our Sunday services for one week. Instead of our normal services, we would have a prayer meeting. Our normal praise and worship would not happen, the usual media and music would not take place, and I would not preach a message.

The entire service focused on seven different areas for prayer. We read Bible verses that dealt specifically with prayer. We had different leaders share faith declarations that spoke of our belief in what God can do.

The services were very impacting. We experienced something different from what we had before. People who had never been to one of our many prayer meetings saw what it was like to pray together.

The response was overwhelmingly positive. I thought some people might be upset that we did not have a normal service, or that they would be unhappy that they didn’t get to sing or hear a sermon, but that did not happen.

Is there something new you should do? Are you expecting different results, a better situation, or a new blessing while still doing what you have always done?

It is time to do something new.

Start today.