Evolving
I have lots of friends who have no problem with change. They optimistically embrace new ways of thinking and doing and are energized by innovation.
They don't spend much time overthinking, worrying, or longing for the good old glory days.
They live in the now - embracing change and seeing the future as an optimistic opportunity for awesomeness.
They simply assume everything is going to turn out great. Why wouldn't it?
I've watched these friends change and adapt over the years - not just with their hairstyles and gadgets - but with their whole selves.
These are some of the happiest people I know, and they consistently inspire me to be curious and optimistic instead of criticizingly cautious and fearful.
As I reflect on all we have been learning on this journey together, I think that is the same kind of inspirational hope God offers us.
We are God's creation - evolving, learning, and growing as we experience all that comes our way on life's journey.
The old is being made new.
We are shedding what is no longer serving us.
Our eyes are opening as we embrace new opportunities and challenges.
Our spirits are roaring within as God strengthens us to fight the battles we face.
Our ears now only hear the loving truth of God's love - no longer lured by the lies that once imprisoned us in despair and darkness.
Thank God we are not where we once were.
We are evolving into something new, beautiful, courageous, and powerful.
And it is just the beginning.
God knows what we need at this moment, not just to survive - but to thrive.
He is repurposing and changing us for the better.
Let those changes come, my friend.
Don't look back or worry about what life will be like if you lay down those things God asks you to release.
He's molding you and changing you into something extraordinary.
Embrace evolution and change, and trust God to lead you forward.
Everything is going to be okay - I know it!
2 Corinthians 5:17
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ [that is, grafted in, joined to Him by faith in Him as Savior], he is a new creature [reborn and renewed by the Holy Spirit]; the old things [the previous moral and spiritual condition] have passed away. Behold, new things have come [because spiritual awakening brings a new life].
Jeremiah 29:11
"For I know the plans and thoughts that I have for you," says the Lord, "plans for peace and well-being and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope."
2 Corinthians 3: 17-18
Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
Isaiah 43: 18-19
Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.