“New wine needs new wineskins.” God’s whispered those words to my heart so many times throughout the past year. They hold the promise that He’s not done with me yet, the hope that He is making a way in my desert and streams in my wasteland.
Those words also hold a command. They are a challenging reminder of my responsibility.
Or maybe it's my response-ability.
While it’s always God who brings the new, what I do with it is entirely my choice.
God is ever the gentleman. He will never force Himself on me.
So He holds out His hand, waiting for me to put mine in His, ready to lead me forward.
He longs to breathe His newness into my walk with Him, into my relationships with others, into my thought patterns. My faith-journey should be constantly evolving as I allow Him to continually change me from the inside out.
I want that so badly.
I want Him to mold me and shape me the way He sees fit.
I desire new. I long for change, for different.
Yet, at times, I still find myself unwilling to let go of the old so that I can embrace the new.
Sometimes I still prefer the familiar chains of Egypt over the unknowns of the Promised Land.
It just feels easier to stick with what I know.
Even when I hate it.
Because while I may be frustrated with where I’m at (physically, emotionally, spiritually), it’s still oddly comfortable and strangely comforting.
My chains double as a security blanket.
Which means I don’t trust Him enough.
(Story. Of. My. Life.)
I hear God’s voice calling me to drop my chains and walk on. He whispers that my security should lie only in Him because He alone is trustworthy.
He reminds me that I can’t embrace what He has for me until I stop fighting it.
I can’t slip my hand into His while my fists are clenched tightly, clinging to what I know out of fear of what I don’t.
The greatest obstacle to what God wants to do, is my unwillingness to let go of what He’s already done.
“I am making all things new," He promises.
He is already breathing newness into every corner of my life. Already recreating, restoring, redefining, and redeeming me.
All of me.
He is giving me new wine and new wineskins. And I want to fully embrace all that He has for me.
Even when it scares me.
Because I want to fear God more than I fear anything else.
So today as I’m craving His newness, I'm also mindful of my responsibility.
Of my ability to respond to Him.
And today...
Today, I'm choosing to trust.
Originally posted as a gust post at Rainmakers and Stormchasers >