Something Brand New

Well it's been a little bit since I've posted anything. My intention has always been to post regularly but you know, life happens!

The verse for this journaling page is one I have always loved but here lately it keeps popping up in my mind more and more. Most recently it came to mind to share with our re|engage group (the marriage ministry my husband and I are helping lead). I wanted to share it with them because this week in our study we were talking about the lies the enemy will try to get you to believe about your marriage. One of the lies it mentioned was one I used to struggle with a lot, it is the lie that "My marriage can never be great because there is just so much damage". I believed this lie for many years after discovering my husbands affairs. I thought it would never get any better because there was too much damage to ever be any better. I thank God he brought me out the other side of that lie to a marriage that is brighter, better and more fullfilling than it ever was before. But being that I had struggled so much with this lie I thought there were probably some in our group struggling with that very lie, but not because of what has happened in their current marriage but perhaps something that happened in a past marriage or relationship. So what I shared with them is what I want to share here today!

If you find yourself struggling with damage that was caused in a current or past relationship and you find yourself thinking that the marriage or friendship or any other type of relationship can never be better because there is too much damage then let Isaiah 43:19 offer some hope and encouragement. God does not want me, you, or anyone else chained to the damage of the past but we have a very real enemy who wants nothing more than to throw your past in your face every chance he gets. That is why it is so important to be intentional to immerse yourself in God's truth every chance you get!!

So the version I shared with my group was NLT but then when I journaled this page I decided to read the message version and wow! it really drove this point home. Here is what the message version says:

“Forget about what’s happened;

don’t keep going over old history.

Be alert, be present. I’m about to do something brand-new.

It’s bursting out! Don’t you see it?

There it is! I’m making a road through the desert,

rivers in the badlands."

I mean come on!! Do you see how good that is?! God is speaking through the prophet Isaiah and he is telling us very specifically to not dwell on the past, don't keep going back there. Be ALERT, Be PRESENT. What those words mean to me is to not walk through my life not paying attention to what is going on around me, I need to be alert but more than that be present, every day, in whatever space I am in. Then he goes on to talk about making a road through the desert and rivers in the badlands, or as the NLT says it "I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland." Have you ever felt like your life was one big dry wasteland or like you were just drifting through the wilderness and calling it your life?! I know I've been there, but pay attention here...God is clearing a pathway through your wilderness right now! Speak it out, in Jesus name! He is also bringing rivers of living water into your dry desolate wasteland, he is doing something BRAND NEW! Don't you see it? Can you feel it?

God does not want you walking through life, tied to your past, alone, wandering through the desert or in the wilderness. He is waiting with his arms stretched open, just waiting for you to say "I can't do it alone, God, will you please help me?"

See God is a gentleman, he doesn't barge into your life and make you do whatever his will for your life may be. He waits patiently for his children to come home to him, then he welcomes them in with open arms and takes the weight you've been carrying and lifts it off your shoulders.

So go to him, friend. Talk to him. Tell him your problems and your struggles. He is there. He is waiting. He can't wait to hear from you!

If you would like to see me journal this page please check out my YouTube process video here: https://youtu.be/1vDW0DwdQho