God of New Beginnings

A New Year. New beginnings.  January is when you’ll find me making lists of all the things I intend to get done in the coming year.  Not only do I want to make my life easier,  but I also want to make the lives of everyone around me more pleasant. So,  I make my little lists and,  hopefully,  I will be able to look back at the end of the year and see my accomplishments!

Sometimes it works out and sometimes….well ….. How was your last year?  I ended last year with lots of things left undone. Things I intended to finish…like those Christmas Ornaments I have meant to make (for the past 3 years…) and the guest room closet I need to clean out. And then there’s the yard sale I’ve been meaning to have,  to get rid of stuff that fills my life,  but offers no meaning…just stuff.  I’m afraid I never quite get to all my projects each year.

And then there’s the personal, spiritual growth I intend to reach each year. I never seem to get there either…Do you?  I meant to finish reading the Bible through….I didn’t make it. And therein lies the rub. So not only have I not reached my personal goals for the year, I’ve let God down, too.  I think that’s why God gives us a new year, every year, to begin anew. Messed up last year? God has you covered. I like to think that each new year allows us a new beginning to get it right!

January is almost over and I still haven’t gotten the guest room closet done. But you know what? February is a new month and a new opportunity to begin again. Not only does God give us a new year, every year , but in that year He gives us 12 new months. So,  this month,  I intend to get that guest bedroom closet finished!

Sometimes, what we mess up, is not as innocent as a chore we neglected to get done. Sometimes we mess up our lives and desperately need the chance to start over. Have you ever been there? I have.  And you know what? God promises if we confess our sin we will be forgiven. He also promise to put our sin behind His back and remember them no more…now ~  That’s some good news!

God knows how often we fail. He knows that we are in constant need of new beginnings..…consider this…tomorrow is the dreaded Monday!   How often do we complain about Mondays?  But Monday is really just another beginning for us! It’s the beginning of a new week and another chance to get done what we didn’t do last week. A new week to do better than we did last week. A new week to get it right!  Every 7 days we can start over!! How great is that?

Not only is tomorrow the beginning of a new week…it’s also a new day! Every 24 hours we are blessed with a bright, new, beautiful day!    God certainly knew we needed new beginnings….opportunities to start over.

God knows we are fallen creatures needing new beginnings, to right the things that we get wrong. This holds true for our jobs, our families, our relationships, and especially our relationship with Him. Thank goodness His mercy is new everyday!

Every year, every month, every week, every day, every hour, every minute, every. single. solitary. second. is a new beginning and chance for us to start over.  God’s love and forgiveness is available to us every moment of our lives.…and each moment,  we have the chance to begin again~  I love this passage of scripture.  It reminds us that no matter what we do, how many times we fail ourselves, each other and Him ~ His mercy, love and second chances are always available to us. 

Lamentations 3:17-26 (NIV)