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The Old Has Gone, the New Has Come: Facing 2012 with Faith in the Unchanging One
When I started thinking about writing this article, I planned on doing a “Year in Review at TRCC.” You see, I’m a very sentimental person, so for me, the past is safe. It’s known. It’s comforting. I like to remember things and hang on to them. You should see the kinds of keepsakes I have accumulated over the years! The more I thought about what to write, however, the more I felt like I should look towards the future. This topic is much more intimidating to me. Doing something new is daunting. I don’t normally enjoy change, for better or for worse. While some people embrace new things with optimism, I often approach them with uncertainty and anxiety. Lately, though, I have been forced to accept some big changes in my life; we at Trier Ridge all have. The biggest change, obviously, is that we find ourselves entering a new year without a pastor. I know that for many people, myself included, this is a particularly painful and unwelcome change. People often say that you have to “move forward” in life, and while it’s true that none of us can go back in time, getting into drive gear is easier said than done, especially when you are facing a big change in life. It’s the old adage - two steps forward, one step back. So I find myself asking, how does God want us to respond to the changes we face?
I did a little digging and tried to find out what God’s Word has to say about change and new things. One of the first references to change that I came across was Malachi 3:6, “I the lord do not change.” What a comfort! Even though it may seem that nothing is constant in our lives, God is. He is always there for us. As Lamentations 3:22-23 says, “Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” However, although God doesn’t change, I found that one of the overarching themes of the Bible is a passing from old to new. And guess what! New is always better! The Old Testament paves the way for the New Testament. The old covenant and the old priesthood are replaced by the new. The old way opens into the new Way, Jesus Christ. Eventually, even the old heavens and earth will pass away and be replaced by a new heaven and a new earth. As we learn in Revelations, “He who was seated on the throne said, ‘I am making everything new!” (21:5). Does this mean that the everything old was worthless? Not at all. Without the Old Testament, old covenant, old priesthood, old way, and old heavens and earth, we would have no foundation to build upon. We should not disregard the past, but neither can we cling to it too tightly, because then we might miss the new things God has in store for us. 2 Cor. 5:17 states, “ Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” The question, then, remains, how does God want us to respond to the changes we face in life? First of all, He wants us to put our trust in Him because He never changes. He is our rock, no matter what changes we face. We do not have to be afraid when we face new challenges in life. Will some changes still be hard? Yes. This new year may be especially hard for a while as we all adjust to the major changes that have taken place. We have to remember, though, that with God Emerald Davis
Trier Ridge Community Church Pastor Matt Tosten
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