God Is Always Doing Something New
In 2008, I was pregnant with my second child, who was due on April 12. Due to a complicated birth with my first daughter, many of us were praying Emerson would come early. An added benefit to that prayer was that she wouldn’t get too mixed up in the birthdays of myself and my husband which are on April 19 and 25, respectively.
I imagine many of us have experienced God saying no. Emerson Claire managed to make her grand entrance eleven excruciating days late, sliding right between her parents’ birthdays, on April 23.
Spring Has Sprung
April is also the first full month of spring. It is still mind-boggling to me how creative God is that he perfectly created the earth to be just the right distance away from the sun. He knew to put it on an axis so that each part of the earth would experience four seasons. He created endless types of plants and flowers that would go through a rebirth every year.
As we find ourselves in April after a globally challenging two years, I hope we can follow the proverbial adage to stop and smell the roses. May we notice is the new things happening around us. Whether it be in God’s creation, whether it be in relationships around us, or whether it be in our daily walk with Jesus, God is always doing something new.
We closed our home church plant in December 2020. I’d say most of 2021 was a bit of a spiritual respite for us. We still connected with our community and found ways to extend love to those in need. But we attended church online far more often than we attended in person. We had never felt so disconnected from a church body.
What New Thing Is God Doing?
In late 2021, I received an opportunity through my work to attend some training and apply to be on the board of a local nonprofit. I gratefully joined the board of Resilient Futures as a result. They do trauma-informed care and training through a racial equity lens, and I am honored to come alongside them to further their mission.
Not two months later, I was connecting with the Executive Director of Jeffco Prosperity Partners. We had partnered with this organization regularly throughout our church plant and wanted to continue the relationship. I was invited to join the board of the foundation that funds them and began serving early this year.
I don’t know what God will do related to my participation on these two boards this year. I feel inadequate and ill-equipped. I do know, though, that he is doing something new. He is leading me to something different. He wants me to serve my community in meaningful ways that stretch me beyond what is comfortable or safe.
I don’t know what season you’re in right now. You may be in a dark season with immense trials where you are unable to see the light. You may not be able to see God doing anything new due to exhaustion and the effort to survive. My prayer for you is that he sends you something new as encouragement. It could be a friend who can relate to your struggles, it could be just the slightest improvement in circumstances to give you a glimmer of hope.
Perhaps you are in a season of waiting. Maybe you are longing for something new, but you don’t know what it is or how to find it. My prayer for you is that the spirit will reveal it in his perfect timing and that your heart will be ready and open for the next step. I hope you enter into it with joy and gladness, even if it’s also accompanied by fear.
God Does Not Change, He Changes Us
God is noted in the Bible as being unchanging. James reminds us that “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights who does not change like shifting shadows.” (1:17 NIV) However, God does want to change us. He will not force himself on us in his infinite kindness and mercy. However, if we are earnestly seeking him, he will gently nudge us forward.
He wants us to see more of him. He wants us to grow more like Jesus. He wants us to love others more boldly and to seek him more persistently. This month, we take time to grieve the need for his sacrifice as he died and was buried, and we celebrate the miracle of his resurrection. May we take some time to notice what is new and pray about what new thing he might be birthing in us.
is a Jesus follower, wife, mom of three, finance director, and lover of sarcasm and deep conversations with friends. She also loves camping, rafting, skiing, sewing, and hosting others in her home.
Photograph © Tomoko Uji, used with permission
