For the NEW Day There requires a NEW WAY
Deb Peacock
Repeatedly I have been hearing from the Lord, “New day, new way. New day, new way.” For many the season does not look new, and I have been reminded many times over of Habbakuk 3:17-19, “Though the fig tree does not blossom and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord. I will be joyful in God my saviour. The sovereign lord is my strength and he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to tread on the heights.”
God is speaking to those where the season looks bare, it looks barren and there is weariness all around taunting and trying to get a strong hold over you. It takes trust with God in these times, more than we needed before. We need an upgrade of our trust in God when all looks hard and bare. We need a new way. The new way equips us with strength so that we can stand in some precarious situations and be present and face them. We can be the light amidst uncertainty and great difficulty.
God is declaring that we are in a new day. Perhaps for some of you, the new day came quite a while ago and so you have been here for a while. If so, you might have missed the Lord’s help: new way. He is saying that in this new day we must have a new way for life. In a new climate, or in a different space we know that the way we used to do things won’t work exactly the same. If we change jobs, the process we used in the previous job might have similarities but due to the atmosphere, the culture, the people it will not look exactly the same and the way will be a bit different.
UPGRADE WITH THE LORD MEANS AN UPGRADE OF ROUTINE
We get excited when we hear the word upgrade, we get to move into something greater with the Lord and it is wonderful. God is saying that the upgrade requires an upgrade of routine, routine of daily life. What worked for the introductory level won’t work for the higher level.
Just like a runner can train for a 5km run by going for a jog a few times a week, they have to increase and alter their training if they were to run a half marathon. If they wanted to go further and run an ultramarathon they will need careful attention paid to their diet, their sleep and their mental and physical activity. We can’t upgrade to the bigger run without reconsidering our lives, our daily routines, and how it all fits together. God is calling us to get practical and look at our daily lives and ensure we have three things:
REST
To hear from God well we need to be well rested. If you are a dreamer, you will dream when your sleep is sound.
REJOICE
Habbakuk 3 says yet will I rejoice in the Lord. No matter how barren life looks around us, when we have Jesus we have got goodness in our lives. We have positive, beautiful assurance and care in our lives. God is highlighting the importance of ensuring that we enjoy the good in our lives every day. Everyday take time to rejoice in the Lord. Rejoicing- praising and being grateful to God is an action that strengthens us. It is fuel for us to be able to do what we are called to, to be able to withstand the difficult times.
RECEIVE
Be still and know that I am God. Psalm 46:10
It is not enough anymore to ask God to guide and ask him for direction as we move from one thing to the next. God wants more than that for us. He wants to be more than the instruction manual for our life. Yes, he wants to love and save the people you are called to help, but he wants to look after you too. He wants you to be able to go forward in strength, in purpose, in health.
Cast your cares on him because he cares for you. 1 Peter 5:7
As followers of Jesus, we follow what he does and we are to do the same. He cares for us and therefore we are called to care for ourselves. We will not receive his care if we don’t also pause with him, allowing him to care for our heart because we are also following him and choosing care for ourselves also.
Care means the injuries, the wounds, the assaults can heal and you can return to full strength and go well. It means there won’t be burn out, there will only be living on fire of the Lord with power.
The upgrade of what you are called to will require a deeper trust in the Lord, an upgrade of trust. This requires an upgrade of routine. Its not the elementary routine anymore, its time to reflect, reset and move into STRENGTH AND TRUST.
Blessings