A NEW BEGINNING

Introduction

There are seasons in life when God brings one chapter to an end because He is ready to begin another. An ending is not always a tragedy. Sometimes an ending is God's way of making room for a new beginning.

Isaiah 43:18–19 says: “Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it?”

God was speaking to people who had experienced disappointment, captivity, loss, and uncertainty. Yet God did not tell them that their story was finished. He told them, “Behold, I will do a new thing.” What happened before does not have to determine what happens next. God can give you a new beginning.

1. A New Beginning Requires You to Release the Past

Paul said “Forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before…” You cannot fully embrace what is ahead while continually living in what is behind. The past may contain victories, but it may also contain failures, disappointments, rejection, betrayal, missed opportunities, and painful memories. God is not asking you to pretend the past never happened. He is telling you, “Do not allow the past to imprison your future.”

Joseph experienced betrayal, slavery, false accusation, and imprisonment. But when God elevated him, Joseph did not allow yesterday's pain to destroy tomorrow's purpose. He named his first son Manasseh, saying: “God… hath made me forget all my toil…” — Genesis 41:51

There are some things you must release before you can move forward. You cannot change yesterday, but by God's grace, yesterday does not have to control tomorrow.

2. A New Beginning Starts with God

Genesis 1:1“ In the beginning God…”The Bible opens with these words because every meaningful beginning must start with God. When God is at the beginning, He can handle everything that comes afterward. Before you begin a new relationship, ask God. Before you begin a new ministry, seek God. Before you begin a new business, acknowledge God. Before you enter a new season, surrender it to God. Proverbs 3:5–6 teaches us to trust the Lord and acknowledge Him in all our ways.

Don't merely ask God to bless what you have already decided. Invite Him into the decision from the beginning.

3. A New Beginning Often Requires Leaving Something Behind

God told Abraham in Genesis 12:1 “Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee.” Abraham could not enter his new season while refusing to leave his old location.

Sometimes new beginnings require separation. You may have to leave behind:

• Old habits
• Old attitudes
• Unhealthy relationships
• Fear
• Bitterness
• Unbelief
• Comfortable routines
• Wrong thinking
• Sinful patterns
• The need for everyone's approval

Some things were appropriate for your previous season but cannot accompany you into your next one.

What God is taking you into may require you to release what you have become accustomed to.

4. Don't Be Afraid When the New Beginning Looks Unfamiliar

Isaiah 43:19 says: “I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.”

Notice where God promises to work:

In the wilderness.

In the desert.

A wilderness does not naturally have a road. A desert does not naturally have rivers.

God was saying, “I am going to produce something in a place where you would not normally expect it.”

Your new beginning may not come the way you expected.

God may open a door you never considered.

He may connect you with people you never knew.

He may give you an assignment you never imagined.

He may provide through a source you never anticipated.

Therefore, don't limit God to familiar methods.

If God can make roads through wildernesses and rivers through deserts, He can make a way for you.

5. Every New Beginning Requires Courage

When Moses died, Joshua faced a major transition.

Joshua 1:2 “Moses my servant is dead; now therefore arise, go over this Jordan…”

Moses' season was over. Joshua's season had begun. But God repeatedly told Joshua:

“Be strong and of a good courage.”

Why? Because new beginnings can be frightening. The old season may have been uncomfortable, but at least it was familiar. The new season requires faith because you don't know everything that is ahead. Courage does not mean there is no fear. Courage means you obey God despite the fear.

Joshua could have spent years mourning what had ended. Instead, God said:

“Now therefore arise.”

There comes a moment when you must stop sitting beside what ended and arise into what God is beginning.

6. God Can Give You a New Beginning After Failure

Consider Peter. Peter boldly declared that he would never deny Jesus. Yet when pressure came, Peter denied Jesus three times.

Imagine his shame.

Imagine his disappointment with himself.

He probably thought he had ruined everything.

But after the resurrection, Jesus restored Peter.

In John 21, Jesus asked him three times:

“Lovest thou me?”

And then Jesus told him:

“Feed my sheep.”

Jesus was essentially telling Peter:

“Your failure did not cancel your calling.”

Later, in Acts 2, Peter stood boldly and preached, and about 3,000 people were saved. The man who once denied Jesus became a powerful preacher of Jesus. That is what grace can do. Failure may be part of your history, but it does not have to be the conclusion of your story.

7. A New Beginning Requires a New Mindset

Romans 12:2 “Be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind…” You cannot enter a new season successfully with an old mentality. Israel came out of Egypt physically, but Egypt was still inside their thinking. They had left slavery, but they still thought like slaves. God wants to change more than your circumstances. He wants to change your thinking.

Stop saying:

• “I can't.”
• “Nothing will ever change.”
• “This is how my family has always been.”
• “I've tried before.”
• “I'm too old.”
• “I missed my opportunity.”

Replace those statements with God's Word:

• “I can do all things through Christ.”
• “With God all things are possible.”
• “If God be for us, who can be against us?”
• “The Lord will perfect that which concerns me.”

Your environment may not change immediately, but your new beginning often starts when your thinking changes.

8. Jesus Is the Greatest New Beginning

Christianity is not simply God improving the old person.

It is new life in Christ.

Jesus gives:

• A new identity.
• A new heart.
• A new relationship with God.
• A new purpose.
• A new direction.
• A new hope.
• A new destiny.

This means your greatest new beginning does not begin with a new job, new house, new relationship, or new opportunity.

Your greatest new beginning begins with Jesus Christ.