Remember the Look of New

new (adj.) 1 taking the place of one that came before; syn. makeshift, substitute. 2 not known or experienced before; syn. fresh, novel, original, strange, unaccustomed, unfamiliar, unheard-of, unknown, unprecedented.

Merriam-webster thesaurus

There’s this initial “bells and whistles” excitement about new things. New people, interests, skills, and new years — birthdays or Jewish or calendar — bring with them a freshness that we tend to welcome freely. This entry though, is about the other new things that “catch these hands” (Southern United States speech for us putting up a fight or some resistance). In a new year, when we may declare our willingness and readiness to see new things with fresh perspective, I want us to remember what new looks like.

Reread the lists above. I want us to prepare ourselves for new, for real.

For some things, new will be replacements. Old things will pass away or separate from us (there are several ways this can happen), and what comes next will be new. It may feel like what is gone cannot be replaced, and that may be true. It may feel kind of shoddy or unstable, but, it will be new. I pray Holy Spirit brings this entry back to our minds when we feel like we got the last item on the clearance rack or shelf. We will give up some habits that had a hook in our souls, and the healthier alternatives will be new. Quietly, we may resign from positions and relationships, and the voids we tried to avoid will be new.

For other things, new will be what we have not known or experienced before. Let’s practice now not being frustrated or saying the wrong things when new comes. New will arrive in packages, in emotions, in people, in experiences, in business, in blessing, in trial, in improvement, in loss, and we need to prep for it. Practice giving new a smile. Practice conquering speech. Practice a broader perspective that considers God’s will including more than us.

New will begin as a stranger. Read that carefully. New will make an introduction in different ways. Before we default to carnal suspicion, let’s choose wisdom and discern the purpose for New’s coming. New will be unknown to us. New will be unheard-of by us. New will be…NEW.

Forgive me for the excessive emphasis on NEW. I want us to pivot, finally, into faith made sight. I want us to see what God wants us to see in time, on earth, and New is one of the ways we will embrace God’s plan. Please, as holidays transition back into the grind, let’s remember what new looks like. Let’s pay attention to the markers — the Scripture, the prophecies, the faith, the petitions — and give New a good once-over at the introduction. Our answered prayers are wrapped up, for many things, in New. SELAH.

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Dr. Shaunta Scroggins is the founder of The Bereans’ Commentary.