“If anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation; everything old has passed away.”

2 Corinthians 5:17

Your story matters.  Every detail, every set-back, every struggle, every high and low, it all matters.  God has so beautifully crafted each detail in our stories, not to keep it to ourselves, but to share and encourage others around us.  God doesn’t give us a story, a testimony to well within ourselves, but to pour out onto others and glorify Him.  I can recall so many moments in my life where I can now see God’s hand.  I didn’t know it then, but I know it now- for I am a new creation in Christ, I am made new.  

As I’ve read through the old testament, I find myself relating to the Israelites far too often.  I see how God does these miraculous amazing things for the Israelites and they accept the gift and then so quickly question his motives when things don’t go their way.  As a new creation in Christ, it is no longer our way, but His way and trusting the way he has set forth for us, not what we want.  In Ezekiel, God explains how when the Israelites were living without God, “they defiled it by their conduct and their actions.” Ezekiel 36:17 To me, this is an image of us being like Israel before we knew God.  More than we’d like to admit, we likely defiled ourselves by the things we did or said within this world.  Maybe you didn’t, but I know I did.  Before accepting Christ into my life and being sanctified, I partied like there was no tomorrow.  I was living for current gratification, not His glorification.  The Israelites often denied God and lived within the land as if God were not there, but God brought them out of it.  The Lord said “It is not for your sake, house of Israel, that I am going to do these things, but for the sake of my holy name.” Ezekiel 36:32  God brought you out of your old life and into this new life.  He didn’t do it just to show you the light, but to show you the light so you can shine it on others, to bring him glory.  In being a new creation, our sole purpose or drive should be to further God’s Kingdom and bring others into it.  God brought the Israelites into the new land in order for them to spread the news of what He did and does, to further His kingdom.  He used the Israelites as an example for all of us.  You are like the Israelites, I am like the Israelites and we too, are brought into the new land.  

“For I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land.  I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols.  I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.  And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws!” Ezekiel 36:24-27  Remember, you aren’t who you once were.  You aren’t defined by what you once did, so don’t let Satan rob you of your potential through Christ because of the whispers he keeps saying to you.  Remind yourself of God’s word, believe and now belong with Christ.  Celebrate that you are new and share it with others!  Get baptized and enter into the new land and let God continue to fill you with His spirit.  What a beautiful image, to think that we have died to our old selves, are raised into our new life with Christ, and are now brought into a new land, a greater land, the Garden of Eden.  “This land that was laid waste has become like the garden of Eden; the cities that were lying in ruins desolate and destroyed, are now fortified and inhabited.”  Your soul, which was once crushed with a longing for something more has been brought into the new land of the Lord, a land that is greater and bears fruit.  You are made new.  

I once was lost and I’ve definitely been found.  I was broken for a very long time, lost and searching for acceptance.  I thought God was either really mean or really far away based on the circumstances and events that happened in my life, but now I can see God’s hand.  I thought God didn’t see me, but he actually was using other believers of this world to plant seeds within me.  The ones planting seeds, the ones praying for me, I see now how these people may have been seemingly “small things”, but these small things added to my salvation story and ultimately changed my life forever.  God was waiting for me all along.  We hear the big stories like David and Goliath, Daniel and the Lions, the Red Sea being parted.  Don’t overlook the consistency and theme in each story- God.  The same God who did all of that is the same God that is in your story.  Your story matters.  There is shame and there is sorrow in my story, but now there is also joy. 

Small things matter, small steps matter (The Lord will establish the steps, remember?). Planting seeds matter, so share your story, share your testimony- it all matters, even if you don’t think it does.  God uses anyone he wants to use.  God can take the worst sinner and turn them into His greatest warrior.  As you reside in this new land, remember that “the nations around you that remain will know that I the Lord have rebuilt what was destroyed and have replanted what was desolate.” Essentially, God is reminding you that the people around you will see that you have changed, you now have God’s light and have been made new.  What should have broken you, has grown you; what should have knocked you down, brought you back up.  You’ve been replanted and now you’re the one planting the seeds.  God is using you, He’s using your story.

You are made new, by what Jesus did for you.  What are you going to do with that?  You are no longer bound by the chains you were once held.  You are no longer captive to the sins of this world and the lies the enemy whispers at you, because you know that you’ve been given a new heart and spirit.  So, don’t miss the miracle of you.  Do you hear that?  Don’t miss the miracle that God has done within you.  The little moments, the “coincidences”, the way he changed your heart of stone to a heart of flesh.  Your story matters.  Your story is another miracle in God’s book of life.  You are a part of it. You are chosen, you are loved, you are hand picked by God and given this miracle story to share with others. Remember what God promised you in First Thessalonians, that he will do it.  We are reminded again of this same promise as we enter the “new land”, that “I the Lord have spoken, and I will do it.” As you enter Eden, remember that your story matters and now you can help others to see how their story matters too.  God is in the story, he will do it and now use that story to bring Him glory.  Your story for His glory.