When a Fancy Shirt Reminded Me About the Fullness of God
“Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.”
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
- 2 Corinthians 5:17
And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.”
- Revelation 21:5 - 5
In high school, I was gifted a gorgeous, new, fancy shirt from Anthropologie.Thanks, Mom! It had these beautiful embroidered flowers… I told you it was fancy.
So fancy it hung in my closet where I would walk right by. Sometimes I would touch it if I was feeling extra special.
But I didn’t stop my steps to actually put it on, because I was afraid I’d mess it up. How often do we do this in our relationship with God?
I’d walk right past the new to the ewwwww… and I’d grab my less fancy, old, t-shirt with the faded color and crusty stains and settle for the comfortable thing that I used to…
HAVE YOU EVER BEEN GIFTED SOMETHING NEW BUT WERE WORRIED YOU’D MESS IT UP SO DIDN’T FULLY RECEIVE THE GIFT?
Or maybe you were too distracted to notice it’s beauty in the first place?
How often do we settle into the comfort of our sin nature and cling to the things of the flesh, instead of the fullness of Christ? These three Bible verses shared above remind us that God is doing a new thing, and it's through His son Jesus.
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Have you been missing the “new thing” because you’ve been focusing on the wrong thing? Maybe even the ewwwww thing?
For a while, I was magnifying fear instead of faith. I’m not talking about that fancy shirt anymore. It was an internal dialogue rooted in fear, shouting that I wasn’t enough. That’s an old crusty, ewwww thought.
BUT GOD.
This is where the dialogue gets to flip it and reverse it. The relationship I have with Jesus says I’m made new.
And that through HIM, I actually AM enough. Often times our mindset and false realities get stuck looking at the what was, rather than what is or is to come.
We’ve been walking right past that new special thing towards the old because we think it holds security. That’s a lie. Your security blanket is Jesus and He turns the ewww to new all the time. He’s done it for me, and He’ll do it for you (a whole bunch of times too).
BEHOLD, GOD IS DOING A NEW THING - SO LET’S FOCUS ON THE RIGHT THING!
LOOK FROM THE PAST.
Carry a Kingdom mindset of the hope Christ brings in the present day and in what is to come. It’s great to celebrate those past victories and to use them to build our faith… but don’t forget, there is so much more.
There is hope for healing and victory.
Restoration.
There is promise in the broken.
We can’t always see it in the natural or feel it, but HE IS MAKING ALL THINGS NEW.
Focus on the RIGHT THING! Don’t miss it because of insecurity, or inauthenticity. He chose you to be in covenant relationship with Him - there’s promise of new. Shiny, sparkly, fancy, new. Don’t be distracted by the old stuff.
It’s time to put on that garment of praise and align (or realign) yourself with the truth
Jesus said, "I am making all things new”.
Pressures off friend. He didn’t say YOU have to make all things new. All you have to do is walk with a faith and trust in Him. Put on a garment of praise, EVEN when you don’t understand the circumstance.
Put on that garment of praise, even when you haven’t found the promise. If the season feels gray, put on that garment of praise, because there’s a new day. Right now, take a 30-second praise break and begin to thank Jesus for what’s in front of you and for the promise of new that is to come.
Take a few minutes and ask Holy Spirit…
Do you have a relationship with Jesus? If you’re not sure, ask Jesus to reveal Himself to you in a deeper more intimate way. Start reading the Gospel of John and learn about the transformational love of Jesus.
Ask God to show you what you’ve been magnifying in your life. He’s constantly in motion, even when we don’t see it or understand it. Are you noticing and trusting that He’s doing a new thing? Or are you magnifying the old thing?
Are you afraid to “put on” that new thing because there’s a risk you may mess it up? If so, Lord, may we fully receive your gift of grace, redemption, and love. In Jesus name, Amen.
written by Jenny Randle
