Make Room for the New Thing
“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing.”
Isaiah 43:18–19
God often uses simple, ordinary moments to show us what we are holding on to too tightly and what we need to let go of before He moves us into anything new. He will expose the things that may take up too much time or space, things that may create problems later, or things that simply cannot go where He is taking us. Sometimes these things may look small and harmless, but they often become the very things that grow into the biggest obstacles and create the biggest complications when God is trying to move us forward.
I had one of those moments while me and my husband were doing some organizing. A simple moment that turned into a much needed reminder.
My husband picked something up and said, “We don’t need this anymore. I’m getting rid of it.”
I immediately said, “No, we should keep it, just in case something happens and we need it later.”
He looked at me and said, “Stop thinking like that.”
Right then, the Holy Spirit brought back to my remembrance something God had spoken to me before while I was decluttering and trying to convince myself to keep things that no longer served any purpose. So hearing my husband say those words felt like a gentle correction from God letting me know that I was slipping back into an old mindset.
I paused for a minute and said, “You are so right. Thank you. Get rid of it.”
Then I proceeded to tell him what it was that God has spoken to me, “Stop allowing you to talk you out of receiving and making room for the new.”
As we talked about it, it became even more clear that sometimes we hold onto things simply because they have been with us for so long. Even when they are no longer useful, we convince ourselves they still have a purpose. And if we are not careful, we can end up missing what God wants to do today because we are still stuck in yesterday.
Things change, people change, and times change, but even through all the changes God’s plans for us keep moving forward; and we cannot afford to stay stagnant when He has already made a way of escape out of the old and into the new.
In this season, God is urging us to release anything that no longer carries real purpose. That includes more than just physical things. It can be old mindsets, identities, habits, memories, or safety nets that have keep us in continuous cycles that stunt our growth. It can include unhealthy relationships, environments, or jobs, anger, bitterness, forgiveness, or anything that may be weighing us down or taking up space that God is trying to fill; space in our hearts, our homes, or our minds.
Letting go is not easy. It feels unfamiliar, and unfamiliar feels uncomfortable. But it is often the very thing that opens the door for what God has been trying to give us. What looks like loss is often God subtracting something from us so He can multiply something for us. He is not leaving us empty. He is making room for new. He is making room for more.
The real question is whether you trust Him enough to release the old thing so He can place the new one in your life.
#PrayThroughIt
