Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Being optimistic when there are broken windows...

Being optimistic when there are broken windows…

I feel that over the last few years there has been a sense of, “we have been defeated,” due to the recession. There is a sense that people have felt like they have been punched in the gut because either there portfolio not being what they thought it would be or that when they open their wallet there is nothing there. I know there have been many theologians and church leaders who have preached on this topic of , what we should do as followers of Christ and what it means for us. But, even after hearing all of this and recognizing that we do have hope which will get us through.

The thing is that there are effects of a recession just like when we have gotten out of a bad relationship or made a bad career move. I have lived in two small communities over the last years of my life and have recognized that there are markers of what was. Building that are empty with broken out windows are reminders of not only where a business once stood but lives that were supported by mom or dad’s pay check. For me this is where I find it hard to be optimistic when I see the broken windows.

So, what does it mean for us who drive by these buildings or we look into the mirror and instead of seeing the beauty that God has created in us, only see the broken windows in our personal life? Sometimes even when the schedule is full and we have people to talk with and places to go, we find that we are out in the wilderness. Today, with so many broken windows in employment, relationships, and hopes and dreams we have a sense that we are in the middle of the wilderness. When I have times that I feel I am in the wilderness, I become very restless. I want to find things to fill me and keep my hands busy. Sometimes there is purpose to it but often there is not any reasoning for what I just did. I want, I need MORE…

I am reminded that in these moments where we seem to only seem broken out windows in our life that we can become optimistic with our lives because our God is seeking to make us new and all things new.

Isaiah 43:19, “For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.”

In the midst of trying to put windows back into our buildings, we need to be reminded that we can begin to place ourselves in positions to do something new. The idea of new beginnings, reminds us of how in Christ we have new beginnings. Why do we stay optimistic, because even when we find ourselves in the wilderness, there will be a moment when God provides a path and when we are left out to dry God will provide a river to wash us down the stream and into something new.

When you feel that you have been “defeated” be reminded that God is providing new pathways it may not be what you expect but it bring newness in your life.

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