Starting over

Sometimes, I just want a start-over, don’t you?  Doesn’t everybody?  I mean, the times when I say the wrong thing, or hurt someone.  Or maybe when I go the wrong way, or go too far.  Going back – starting over – seems ideal to me.  This could be every minute, every hour, daily or even totally. 

What about when that thought was “so wrong”.  I’m not thinking like that again, I’m going to change my way of thinking (or at least try to).  Or how about I start over when I won’t listen to gossip anymore or at least I won’t add to it (that’s a hard one!). 

I can start over daily as I change my habits to “praise-ful” ones instead of “whine-ful” ones.  Once the whining begins (even in my mind), I can try and back er up and think of something I am thankful for.  I've done this - try it, it gets easier as you go.

My cousin is starting over in a totally big kind of way.  Their house was being remodeled and they found some foundational issues and they had to tear it all down and start over.  That got me to thinking . . . .  spiritually, what would that mean to start over, foundation up – in a “totally” kind of way. 

First of all, the foundation is the most important part – its gotta be good or its gonna fall/fail/crumble.   I’m thinking a good foundation would consist of stability, a strong faith, truth and love.   Let’s dissect these.

• Stability:  constant, purpose, reliability, dependability, character.
• A strong faith:  trust, belief, leaving, letting go – of course this is all in God, the Maker of the Universe, the Great I AM.
• Truth:  infallible, only, right, The Word of God.
• Love:  endearing, perfect, forgiving, demonstrative.

So we start with this kind of foundation and then we build.  But the building (or in this case, speaking spiritually, “living”) doesn’t go as we planned or better yet, doesn’t go as God planned.  Mistakes are made, feelings hurt.  Temptations, sin and more sin.  Your “building” starts to sink AND stink !

That’s when the start-over begins.  Go back, go back, go back.  Back to where the foundation started rotting out, or the truth wasn’t told.  Back to where the character didn’t hold up, or there was no forgiveness.  Back to however far you have to go - B-A-C-K.

I’ve been there btw – quite a few times.  One time, one I distinctly remember, I was down on my knees, sobbing and felt like I was drowning. I didn’t see anything good in what I had done and no hope in the future.  That’s when the truth came to me - God’s Word.  Whether it comes by listening to a Christian song, or reading a Bible verse, or hearing a sermon, the truth talks.  It tells us there is hope.  There is a “start-over”.  God loves us.  And He wants us IN HIM – not rotting, or hopeless or selfish.  He wants us to start over.

Psalm 40:2-4 (NIV)

He lifted me out of the slimy pit,
    out of the mud and mire;
He set my feet on a rock
    and gave me a firm place to stand.
He put a new song in my mouth,
    a hymn of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear the Lord
    and put their trust in Him

Blessed is the one
    who trusts in the Lord.

So in my case, that is what I did.  I confessed, I accepted His forgiveness.  I prayed.  I cried and I prayed some more.  I started over.  And the next time?  The next time I did it again.  I start over a lot these days.  I think it’s a freeing, healing kind of way to live.  At least for me it is.

By the way, the key here is inWANTING to start over.  Not wanting to be the person we were before, but wanting to be the new creation God has set us apart for.  I pray that everyday for myself and I pray it for you too, my friend.

Starting over with a new song in our hearts – it really can’t get better than that!