Monday, April 28, 2014

What to do in the "new"


I love riddles.

"What gets wet as it dries?"

"What appears once in a minute, twice in a moment, but never in a thousand years."

"When you don't know it it's something, but once you know it's nothing. What is it?"
(Answers @ bottom)

Riddles.

I meet with many young adults in the course of my work (college students, young professionals, and young married couples), and as I do I see some trends that emerge.  When you're moving into a new season of life whether it's a new job, a new move, a new school, or a new marriage it's wise to make sure you're grounded in God's lasting truth and not a storm of opinion/advice that tends to accompany our new seasons of life. Why? Because by nature your "newness" makes your current situation somewhat unclear to you - a riddle if you will. I see many young people who, in new stages of life, grab every idea, concept, or opinion that comes their way. During times of change we need good grounding.

Here are 5 "Holy Habits" to build into life's new seasons to help us stay grounded in true truth and not in feeling/opinion.

Reading
You need to be reading and hearing from God's revealed Word. Grounding your mind in God's truth keeps you focused on what He says about your situation. If you are new to reading the Bible there are hosts of quality devotional books & plans to start with. 
How can a young person stay on the path of purity? By living according to your word. I seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands. I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you. Praise be to you, Lord; teach me your decrees. With my lips I recount all the laws that come from your mouth. I rejoice in following your statutes as one rejoices in great riches. I meditate on your precepts and consider your ways. I delight in your decrees; I will not neglect your word. (Psalm 119:9-16 NIV)
Journaling
Write about what God is doing and what you're doing about it in this new season. Journal your prayers, your concerns, scripture your trusting in, and how God is providing a way. This is healthy now because it makes you stop and reflect, and it's also something you will treasure later.
You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts. (2 Corinthians 3:3 NIV)
Listening
You don't have all the answers. Listen to those who have been down this road before you, listen to advice from godly men and women. Fight the tendancy to either go it alone or think you have the tools you need. The skills it took to get you here are not possibly what will make you successful at the next phase of life.
My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, (James 1:19 NIV)
Serving
It's our natural inclination during times of change and newness to turn inward.  The truth is that during transition serving others, and maintaining your commitments to serving will stir up humility in your heart, and humility serves you well in new seasons. Furthermore, we are never more fulfilled (or like Christ) than when we are serving therefore service is a natural confidence and emotional lift.
Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not people, (Ephesians 6:7 NIV)
Doing what you don't want to do so God can do what Only HE can do
When in new waters placing your selfish desires, wants, and ambitions aside and asking yourself what God would call faithful is a path to open doors that only can open when God does what only he can. Because I believe the Biblical narratives are instructive for life I see this in the "life examples" of Moses, Gideon, Joseph the father of Jesus for starters. Fight the temptation to turn self oriented in your new season but instead establish habits of doing what God calls best at the expense of your own pleasures.

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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. (Isaiah 43:19 NIV)

Answers:
Towel
The letter "m"
A riddle

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