All Things Become New (& gift card winner!)

The randomly selected winner of the $20 Lowes gift card from last Vintage Homemaking Week post is Laurie who left her comment at September 1, 2013 at 4:07 pm. If this is you, please email me with your mailing address. 

I loved reading all of your comment last week on my Vintage Homemaking post about turning old furniture into shabby chic furniture. Thanks so much to everyone who participated.  You had some great ideas and it inspired me to take on a few new projects!

It’s so much fun to take something old that someone else has thrown away as junk, and transform it into something new and valuable and loved. It reminds me of one of my favorite verses in God’s Word found in 2 Corinthians 5:17 which says “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!”  

For those of you who have tackled any refurbishing projects before, you know it doesn’t happen overnight.  One of the things that is most frustrating for me when I’m working on a project is having to be patient! Waiting for the wood to dry after I sand and clean it. Waiting for the first coat of paint to dry. Waiting for the second coat to dry.  And so on. Waiting for the transformation is hard!

It’s a good thing God has a lot more patience with us than we do at times.  Especially in my case, because God waited patiently for years and years while I tried to figure out what His call was for my life, and more importantly, waiting while I learned to trust Him and follow His lead.

How easy it is for us to get frustrated with something we are working on (whether it’s a furniture project, a task at work, our kids or our marriage) because it’s not turning as planned, or get frustrated with ourselves because we can’t see our own inner transformations happening quickly enough. When frustration sets in, we often just decide to give up.

Thank goodness God never gives up on us. No matter how much work He has to put into us. No matter how patient He has to be. No matter how many setbacks there are. He patiently and lovingly waits.

Look at the way The Message Bible says this same verse from 2 Corinthians (verses 16-17):“Because of this decision we don’t evaluate people by what they have or how they look. We looked at the Messiah that way once and got it all wrong, as you know. We certainly don’t look at him that way anymore. Now we look inside, and what we see is that anyone united with the Messiah gets a fresh start, is created new. The old life is gone; a new life burgeons! Look at it!”

Don’t you just love how The Message Bible gives us a new perspective on why and how the old becomes new? We aren’t made new in Christ just because the old wasn’t good enough, but because when we become new in Christ, we are gradually being transformed to be more like Him. The verse also reminds us that we are not just made to look new on the outside, like old furniture being refurbished, but instead we are made new from the inside out.

The word “burgeons” means to begin to grow, as a bud; put forth buds, shoots, etc., as a plant.  When we plant a seed in the ground, a huge plant doesn’t grow overnight, burst out with fruit we can eat right away, and reach it’s full potential immediately. Instead, it’s a very slow process. I found comfort in this verse as it sunk into my heart this morning that God knows we won’t reach our full potential overnight either. He doesn’t expect a quick transformation, and instead He patiently waits for us all to blossom.

One of my favorite things in doing these types of furniture projects is seeing the before and after photos.  How cool would it be if we could see what God sees in the before and after pictures of His children. Before they knew Him, and after they knew Him. Before they began to seek out His will for their lives, and after. Before they found their hidden potential, and after God brought that potential to light. Before we were willing to take a leap of faith, and then after we did.

This is a subject near and dear to my heart and is the theme of my new book that is coming out this month next year. I look forward to exploring this subject deeper and deeper with you in the coming year and working towards truly embracing God’s life changing truths that no matter what has happened in our lives, our lives still matter to God.

He still wants to transform you and me into something new. Are you ready for transformation?

1 Comments

  1. kelley on Thursday, September 5, 2013 at 5:58 pm

    Thank you so much for this devotion, it is exactly what I needed to hear today. I feel sometimes like God gets tired of waiting for me to “arrive” and I miss the journey along the way.



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Tracie Miles is a bestselling author and the Director of COMPEL Training with Proverbs 31 Ministries.  She helps women grow stronger in their faith, pursue the life of purpose God designed them for and live a life of peace, joy and happiness despite their circumstances.

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