he makes all things new

written by shannon maupin

I love summer.

I love the bright yellow sunshine, the rich green grass, the hot pink crepe myrtles and the turquoise pools that reflect the summer sky. Right about now in Texas the temperature feels like the surface of the sun, but I still love it! It reminds me of Coke floats and bomb pops and bike rides and lazy days at the lake. 

Last week my husband, Rob, and I got to celebrate summer with a trip to the beach for a family reunion. I lazed on the beach watching the waves and breathing prayers of thanks. I read a mindless mystery, and one morning my sister and I introduced my niece to Fixer Upper. She had never heard of Chip and JoJo or their show, but she fell in love with them immediately (of course!). We talked a lot about how they take ordinary things, or even things that someone else might deem trash, and they turn them into something beautiful. That’s my favorite part of their show. 

That’s also one of the reasons I love the beach. I love how the waves wash the sand. It reminds me of an illustration I heard back when I was in junior high at a youth retreat. The youth pastor had us close our eyes and picture ourselves on a long white beach. He said to imagine the sand looks like a blank canvas. You walk along for a long time, and when you look back over your shoulder you see that you’ve messed up the sand with your footprints. You try to walk backwards and wipe the sand with your hands to make it perfect again, but you end up making it look even worse. You keep trying to fix it, but you can’t. The more you try, the worse it looks. Then a huge wave washes up beyond your feet, and as it recedes, you see the sand looks beautiful and new again. The waves washed away your mess. He told us that’s what Jesus does in our lives. He washes away our sins. 

I had started flirting with breaking rules about the time I went to that retreat. I had always been a rule follower and people pleaser up to that point. I wanted everyone to like me and be happy with me, but even with trying so hard, it didn’t always work. So, one day when I met some friends at the park after school, and a girl from another class showed up and with a pack of cigarettes she had swiped from her mom’s purse, I broke the rules. I knew my mom would not want me to smoke, but I didn’t want this girl to dislike me and think I was “prude” either. I guess I feared what the girl thought of me more than my mom, because I gave in. I took a drag on the cigarette and waited. The world didn’t come crashing down, the police didn’t pull up, sirens blaring, and my mom didn’t come screaming around the corner. I had broken a rule, a big one for my family. It had felt thrilling and nothing bad had happened…or so I thought (I wonder if that’s how Adam and Eve felt right after their first bite of forbidden fruit?). 

After that first cigarette though, it became easier to break the rules. I broke more and more rules. I felt so ashamed, but I just kept doing it. The world still didn’t stop just because of my choices, but my guilt grew bigger every day and nagged at me during the night. My grades slipped. My friends changed. I tried to ignore all of it, like a small child cramming trash and dirty clothes under their bed before their mom comes for an inspection. By the time I headed to church camp before my junior year, I felt like I would never be able to get out of the river of shame I was swimming in.

Until one person’s story changed my life. 

That summer at camp, different pastors and leaders shared their stories every day. They talked honestly about what God had done in their lives. One youth pastor from another church shared that he had been a big partier in high school like I was. He talked about how God had helped him escape that life and had given him a new life that didn’t rack him with guilt. He didn’t go into a lot of details, but he said God had truly rescued him. I approached him afterwards and asked, “Did God really help you stop drinking and partying? I want to stop, but l don’t think I can.” He assured me God had helped him and that He could help me as well. 

I ended up talking to my youth pastor, Scott, and a couple of other leaders at camp, and I told them I needed help. I told them I wanted to live for Jesus not for myself. I shared honestly that I had gotten baptized the summer before, but nothing had changed in my life. 

Scott challenged me. He told me this was not an emotional, one week decision that I would give up on. He looked me straight in the eye and said, “You need to be in church every week. You need to read your Bible every day. You need to pray and journal and have friends you’re honest with. This is lifelong decision. I’m serious.” I believed him. 

Another leader shared Psalm 40:2-3 with me, which says, 

“He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear the Lord and put their trust in him.”

He said, “God has rescued you from the pool of guilt and shame you were swimming in. We are going to pray that you never step one pinky toe back in that pool.”He prayed for me every day and encouraged me to keep seeking God first and staying active in youth group.  

When I got home from camp, God really did help me. He met me where I was.  He helped me say, “no,” when my friends invited me out drinking. He helped me quit smoking. He even gave me a new group of friends to hang out with. These friends weren’t perfect by any means, but they loved Jesus, and they wanted to live for Him. They wanted to be kind to others and wake up sober in the mornings. We had so much fun hanging out every night. We found fun things to do without having to drink. We prayed before meals. We stayed out late and laughed together and at each other. We served at a camp together for kids and adults who had developmental delays. We talked about God and prayed for each other. We encouraged each other by sharing how God had taken the messy and even ugly things in all of our lives and had made them beautiful. He had given each of us a fresh start, every day, just like in Lamentations 3 where it 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.””

Talk about making things beautiful! Jesus not only rescues us from our sin, but he frees us from our guilt and shame…taking it away completely. He doesn’t stop there. He could, but He doesn’t. He makes us a new creation. He gives us a new purpose. He sets us upon a rock (Himself) and gives us a new song. He takes our messy, sometimes broken, lives and makes them beautiful!

Sometimes we can’t see what He is doing. It might even feel like He’s not there. Nicky Gumble says it this way, “This is a sign of Christian maturity, when we continue to believe in God’s love even when we don’t see it or feel it. As we believe in the sun even when it is not shining, we continue to believe in God’s love even in times of darkness when we don’t feel his love,” (Nicky Gumbel, The Bible in One Year).

God Himself encourages us in Deuteronomy 31:6 saying, “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.”

He reiterates this truth throughout the Bible. 

He is with us (Emmanuel, Matt. 1:22-23). 

He sees us (El Roi, Gen. 16:13). 

He is making all things new (Rev. 21:5).

“He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”  

No matter what we go through today, we can trust that God is with us. He sees us. He can take our mistakes and work them for good. He can take our pain and comfort others. He can take our failures and help us overcome. He is in the process of making all things new. He makes all things beautiful.