Restarting
I rebooted my computer this morning, and as I "patiently" waited for the purr of productivity to begin once again, I saw the word "Restarting" flash before my eyes for what seemed like an hour.
Message received.
Restarting is the gift that God is giving us on this path of redemption.
Whatever happened before you opened your sparkly eyes this morning is in the past.
The pain endured, the mistakes made, and the lessons learned have strengthened us and prepared us - that is for sure.
But dwelling on the past by worrying, retelling, wishing, regretting, if-only-ing, and circling all the stories is no longer how we spend our time.
The past is gone, and today is our opportunity to restart and begin anew.
So what are you gonna do with these hours ahead of you?
Before you pounce on your emails, meetings, and mile-long to-do lists, stop for a second and just be still.
Just take a breath, look around, and listen.
Hear that ticking? I do. My clock is annoyingly loud, so maybe it's just me.
But I'm guessing it's God reminding us that time is moving along super fast.
God has given us the gift of a restart, and it is now up to us what to do with it.
Imagine you are a new creation today because, technically, you are.
Never before has your amazingness lived and breathed on this beautiful and brisk October 2nd.
It's a miracle when you think about it. This day will never happen again. Ever.
I'll forego the desire to say that this day is a gift, and that's why it's called the present. We're better than that.
Be careful not to pick up old habits and patterns that do not belong in a fresh and lively restart.
Fight the urge to do the same things you have always done.
That's old you stuff.
Take moments to pause and check in with yourself to ensure you are using your time worthy of the miraculous redemptive restart you have before you.
As yourself, if you are focusing on "new you" stuff, worthy of honoring all the work you and God did to get you to this moment.
Because this moment and all of those ahead of us today really are gifts.
There I said it; I couldn't help myself,
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].
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.
Philippians 3: 13-14
Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.