Hello, new. I have been waiting for you. Hello, new. I’ve been looking for you. Hello, new. What do I do with you?
Have you ever entered into something new and didn’t know what to do? Have you ever gotten a new job and thought, What do I do here? Have you ever gotten a new device and didn’t know work it? This is how it goes in my house. My daughter, Judah, can set up my new computer, can fix the internet for me and can figure out just about anything. But Judah can fix your computer in two seconds or lock things up and then cause you to spend hours on the phone with tech support. It could go either way! What I’ve learned after many attempts at this is that it’s not that she knows how to fix everything, it’s just that she is not afraid to push buttons. She just isn’t afraid to try!
What would your new look like, if you were unafraid? Some of you would already be married, some of you would have already started your business, asked for a promotion, or healed that broken relationship. The Bible tells us that fear is a tormentor, fear is a deceiver, and fear is a trap.
As you step into your new, you have to become an enemy to fear. You’ve go to be able to look at fear and say, “Fear, you are my enemy!” When we partner with fear, our feet become stuck in cement on the journey in life. We become stuck, calloused and unmoved when our lives are ruled by fear. But we are supposed to be flexible, awakened and moving confidently ahead in our journey with God.
First John 4:18 says, “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. Whoever fears is not perfect in love.” Navigating the new requires you trust His love and make fear an enemy.
Last year, I made a big step in leaving my job and entering into a new season. I had a beautiful picture of what my new season would look like. But let me tell you, the picture is beautiful until you realize you have to paint it. You see, the new season requires a new discipline, a new motivation, a new you. So what do I do with my day in my new. Who sets that tone? Terri Savelle Foy says, “You can’t have a million dollar dream with a minimum wage work ethic.” See, in my old job, my boss told me what to do with my day, the schedule I was accustomed to dictated how I spent my time. But in my new season, I’m the one who sets the tone and how I will spend my time. To be honest, the new is not always easy.
Navigating the new reminds me of the children of Israel and how they cried out for God to deliver them. The Bible says that God heard their groaning and complaints of being enslaved to Pharaoh and God answered their cries for deliverance with Moses.
Pharaoh determined when they ate, work and slept. So when they were set free, they didn’t know how to manage or navigate their new. The children of Israel get exactly what they cried out for, for freedom, and then they find themselves in a wilderness. Navigating a wilderness season is not always easy. The children of Israel didn’t know what to do with their new. They were used to someone telling them exactly what to do and when to do it. They saw the blank canvas of their new before them and realizing they would have to be the ones to put paint on the canvas. So what did they do? They began to complain, they became fearful and they even contemplated going back to bondage!
Some of you today are trying to navigate the new and just like the children of Israel, you are tired and afraid, and thinking about going back. But I want to tell you today, you’ve come too far to give up now, don’t get weary, and keep moving forward. Don’t let fear keep you stuck in your old. Just because you’re figuring out how to navigate the new doesn’t mean you should turn back! To navigate the new you are going to have to use the Word of God, activate your faith and start putting action to what God has promised you. {eoa}
This article originally appeared at joejoedawson.net.
Curt Landry 
Michael L. Brown 
Rabbi Eric Tokajer 
