May is a big month! It is so busy with end of school year activities. May is a time when I can’t help but think about endings and beginnings. With the school year winding down, so many young people are graduating from high school and college and looking forward to new beginnings. All those graduates in their caps and gown make me feel bittersweet. I hate that they are leaving the comfort and safety of their nest, but I am excited for what comes next in their lives. I know that they cannot thrive staying in the same place, standing still. They must move forward to reach their full potential. Isn’t that the way life is though? Almost all new beginnings pair with endings. For all of us change-phobic humans in the world, that reality can be a challenge. Endings often bring change, loss, and a fear of the unknown. If I am honest, I am not a fan. But I do love when I see someone wholeheartedly embracing new beginnings. What I am learning is that when you embrace them, beginnings are filled with vitality and a buzzing, electric hope for the future. A sense of adventure fuels beginnings, and curiosity and determination sustain them.

It is so human of me to cling to the past and dread endings, isn’t it? I really think beginnings are supernatural, and God has a lot to say about beginnings. He created them in the first place, so whether you tend to cling to the old or embrace change headlong, God’s word is a good place to go to look for guidance. When we are saved, Christians become a new creation. In 2 Corinthians 5:17, the Bible says “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here.” When I read that verse and think about the old me, dead in my sin, suddenly change-phobic Heather feels really good about new beginnings. Here is what I am learning to love about beginnings. God is in the beginning business. He gives us the opportunity for new life in Him. That means that if we confess our sins, repent, and ask Jesus to be the Lord of our life, we can have a new life here on Earth and for eternity in Heaven. Earlier I said that beginnings and ending are a matched set, right. So that tells me that becoming a Christian comes with some endings.

Earlier I said endings are hard, and let’s be clear, dying to self and submitting to someone else’s authority rather than my own is hard, and sometimes feels counterintuitive. Sometimes, often, I don’t succeed. I have bad habits that I give into. I like to take control of situations, I focus too much on myself, and I lose my temper. I could go on, but I think you get the idea. The good thing is, God allows us to ask for forgiveness and He forgives us again. We can have new beginnings when we make mistakes. In Mark 2, Jesus tells a parable about wineskins. He says don’t put new wine in old wineskins. The old wineskin would burst open. It would ruin the wineskin and the wine would be ruined as well. He said that new wine should be poured into new wineskins. God doesn’t want us to continue doing life the way we have always done. He challenges us to accept the ending of our old selves, draw closer to Him, and change. But when we mess up, and we all do, he graciously forgives us and provides a new beginning again. When you embrace the new beginning, He will fill you with hope and vitality, and when you seek Him with curiosity and determination, He will make you new, and He will sustain you.

Whichever side you lean toward, the change-phobic, or the eager, embracer of new things, I hope you look to the Lord to sustain you when new opportunities arise and as you walk in the newness of your life in Christ every day. And if you don’t yet know Jesus, there is no time like right now to ask Him for the new beginning he longs to give you.

Thank you, God for giving us a new life in You. When we make mistakes, please help us to confess our sins and renew our relationship with You. Help us to remain new wineskins, filled with new wine. Help us to move forward with curiosity, wonder, and excitement as we navigate life. Help us not to settle for the comfort of the same, but to run after your purpose for our lives. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.