Who doesn’t love a fresh start? It might be buying a new house or car and enjoying the freedom from repairs (at least for a few weeks). It might be cleaning out the pantry, joining a gym and beginning a new healthy lifestyle.
And then there are natural fresh starts that allow us to breathe in the excitement that comes with new opportunities.
Transitioning from high school to college was one of those moments for me. It was a chance to reinvent myself without all the baggage of the past 12 years. New interests, new experiences and new people to meet allowed me to figure out more of my potential and what opportunities lay before me. And believe me, I grabbed hold of everything I could juggle in my arms and tied strings to my belt with the things I couldn’t. I threw myself in deep and swam through the endless hours of academics, activities and achievements.
Following college graduation I committed to a short-term missions assignment.
Diving in deep
For the next two and a half years, I swam even deeper — growing in my faith like I had never before experienced, developing life-changing relationships and refining my intense desire to serve others.
Next came my transition to The Alabama Baptist (TAB). What started out as a short-term job to get me through Beeson Divinity School at Samford University turned into a beloved career. Now, 20 years later, I look back and realize I’ve been swimming so far and so deep that I can no longer see the shore. I am one with the sea — but not just with TAB, in all aspects of Alabama Baptist life. I love this people group and am honored to be one of them and serve them.
But even with the depth of my love for Alabama Baptists, are there moments I’m tempted to bail for a fresh start? Absolutely.
The weight from dealing with daily life issues year after year, the frustrations that lie continuously beneath the surface, the disappointments, the unmet expectations, the exhaustion from carrying each other along the journey — they are real.
Holding on to the rope
It isn’t any different than the decisions all of us face in life.
It may be a difficult choice in your personal life. It may be in church life — to revitalize the dying congregation or plant a new one. It may be in the workplace or volunteer role — to dig deep to find freshness in a long-term position or make a change which guarantees new energy.
It isn’t that one answer is necessarily right and one is wrong; it is about determining what is best despite the cloud of emotions, exhaustion, etc., that might be tainting our view.
Sometimes life gets so marred down that escaping to a blank slate seems like the only way to survive. And in many cases, that truly is the best move to make.
But we also should evaluate if gaining some relief, taking a break or making a specific adjustment would release us from the lack of enthusiasm, loss of love or hopelessness we might be feeling. After all, fresh starts are a never-ending desire and it won’t be long before that which is new is old again — complete with its own heavy luggage.
What makes the most difference, whichever decision we make, is to hold on to the rope that connects us to Christ. I may be battered from being pounded in the storm and continuously tossed up against the side of the rescue boat but I hold on tight, knowing with confidence He won’t let go of His end.
We may need a fresh start sometimes. But what we need even more is the consistency of a God who doesn’t let us go — a God who works in both our current situations and our fresh starts.
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Rashional Extras
“No one but You can turn all my pain into peace, can turn all my doubts to belief. No one but You can take all the tears that I’ve cried and mend all the pieces inside. I’m giving it all to You. … I was helpless on my own, didn’t realize how far I’d gone. I was covered in despair. Jesus, You were standing there. When I could not find my strength, that’s when You carried me. You carried me. No one but You.”
Natasha Owens
Lyrics from “No One But You”
“We call them leaders because they will choose sacrifice so that their people will gain. … A leader chooses to look after the person to the left of him and to the right of him.”
Simon Sinek
Management theorist
“Forgiveness is the fragrance that the violet sheds on the heel that has crushed it.”
Mark Twain
“I think that if God forgives us we must forgive ourselves. Otherwise, it is almost like setting up ourselves as a higher tribunal than Him.”
C.S. Lewis
“To be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable because God has forgiven the inexcusable in you.”
C.S. Lewis
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What I’ve learned in 40 years as pastor
Pastor Mike Hall
New Salem Baptist Church, Reform
1. Be patient. I don’t have to do everything quickly on a strict deadline. God’s mercy is Him giving His children time to figure out what He is teaching them.
2. Just because my name is on the sign doesn’t make me pastor. It is only when I walk through the fires with the congregation that they will start to trust me.
3. The church is not a democracy. It is a Christocracy. It is better to do nothing than try to do something not within the leadership of God. When God’s people move in God’s will there is no weapon of hell that can stop it.
4. I don’t know everything. I must listen first to God and also to those who are in touch with God. Carry all motives, intents and ideas to God. A lot of mess-ups can be avoided by listening before acting.
5. I can’t do everything. If I want something done right, the best thing is to find someone who knows what they are doing.
6. Don’t neglect my family nor my church family.
7. There is no expiration on a pastorate or pastor.
8. There is but one God and His name is Jehovah. It’s not about me. It’s not about having my way. The sooner I learn that the sooner I become a happy servant.
9. All things in life are a tradeoff. In order to have anything or do anything, I have to trade something else for it so choose prayerfully.
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Beautiful character requires hard work
By Pastor Gary Fenton
Dawson Memorial Baptist Church, Birmingham
excerpt from his blog www.characterpath.com
Meaningless busyness can be just as damaging to the development of character as idleness. Some of the laziest people also are the busiest.
In my own life, I recognize that often I have stayed busy performing morally neutral and mildly good tasks so I wouldn’t have to engage the better and best tasks. Better and best always requires more effort, honesty and integrity than good.
When our daughters were small and my wife would brush their hair, she would occasionally tell them it is painful to be beautiful. It is painful and requires hard work to have beautiful character. If you want to avoid the hard work of character, stay busy doing something.
Building character begins with the silence of reflection and then moves to acting on what you have discovered about yourself and life.
It is through reading Scripture and praying daily that we learn the truth about ourselves and about life.
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“Whether you’re running a household or managing a multinational corporation … it can’t be all about you until it’s also all about them. Some call this servant leadership. Being valued by others is about finding the intersection between what you can and want to contribute and what your MVPs need. … Not only is it essential to be clear about your needs and goals, if you want to serve your [most valuable people] … you must help them achieve what is important to them at work and in life.”
Excerpt from “Admired: 21 Ways to Double Your Value” by Mark C. Thompson and Bonita S. Thompson
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