Beginning Anew Again
New beginnings are never easy. They are full of unknowns, fears, learning, vulnerability, and a certain excitement in it all. I am in this process right now. Along with beginning my masters (Th.M) studies at Dallas Theological Seminary, this week I began a new job, moved to a new city, met new friends, and yes, even began a new blog. I’ve just undergone a whole-life overhaul, and many of you have experienced something of the same.
I even got a new Bible. My trusty old NIV Study Bible in its green and mesh cover no longer enters my day as the one familiar item from the past ten years. Even in India I had this comfort, the connection to my thoughts from years past. But thankfully God’s Word remains the same. I began reading my new ESV Study Bible, turning pages to start in the book of Genesis: “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.” I opened up my new journal to try out a new commitment to studying the Bible rather than just reading it, and, writing out my observations, found a new truth I haven’t seen before, probably because I am in my own new beginning. In the beginning the earth was “without form and void”—that’s what my life has felt like with no structure of habits, friends, etc. Up until this week it was all in the darkness. Deep darkness. I didn’t have a clue where I would work. I didn’t know what seminary would be like. I didn’t know anyone. I still don’t know where I’ll live. But right there in the midst of the deep waters, the Spirit of God is present.
Even though new things in my new life are still taking form, God’s Spirit is there, guiding, protecting, providing, so that I do not have to worry. I never did have to worry, because God created me and loves me as His creation.
The story in Genesis gets even better in the next verse: God creates light. Metaphorically, I’m getting a glimpse of that now… light has been shed in my job search, and now I’m employed. I’m getting a feel for what seminary will be like. I’m learning my way around Dallas. But even more than knowledge of my life, I can walk in light from following Jesus the Christ. He says, “I am the Light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” Now that’s what I’m talkin’ ‘bout! The light Jesus brings is life, and life abundant. At the end of the Bible, Jesus says, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Newness is not bad. It’s quite good, and it’s an opportunity for God to teach us, mold us and use us in ways we never could have imagined in our old lives.