Last week I shared the emotions I was experiencing as I said goodbye to old furniture in the post “Out With the Old”. I literally spent the entire day feeling sad and being withdrawn.

The next morning I awoke to the call of the delivery person who was on his way. Suddenly, I found myself in a whirlwind of excitement as we awaited the arrival of the new furniture.

It came. It was situated. It was beautiful. But I found myself slow in warming up to it. It felt different. In fact, I did a double take wondering if I was in the right home the following morning.

But it grew on me. I felt inclined to shift existing paintings and add some new touches to complete the room. Then, it felt comfortable and I was quite content. Truly, I am grateful for this new furniture.

I still remember the first time a situation arose after I submitted to dealing with anger correctly. I wanted to have the last word in a disagreement and as I was on my way to do so, it was as if a muzzle covered my mouth and my feet were stopped in their tracks. I felt prompted to get on my knees and pray for the one I was angry at. I had never done that before. It didn’t make sense. But I did it. And I am so glad I did. The one I prayed for apologized to me shortly afterward. The Holy Spirit did the talking to that person which I learned was way more impactful than my words could ever be.

I even recall the first time I placed boundaries in a relationship after asking for God’s help to do so. I didn’t feel good at all initially. In fact, I questioned if I had done the right thing. But I trusted that God would give me the strength to maintain this decision without guilt. And He did! Oh, it felt so freeing!

Dear Friend, this experience with my furniture has taught me that we can either be like Lot’s wife or like Paul. Either we hold onto the old stuff that we know isn’t beneficial for us, unwilling to let go, and suffer as Lot’s wife did in Genesis 19:26. Or we can be like Paul, who in Acts 9, in his transformation from murderous Saul embraced what God called him to do and became the greatest apostle in the New Testament.

Isaiah 43:18-19 (NLT) reminds us, “But forget all that — it is nothing compared to what I am going to do. For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun!”

I hope you have had a chance to remove “the old furniture” and welcome “the new furniture”, knowing that the best is yet to come as you allow God to work in you and through you.
~Joyce