A New Beginning

Introduction

Today some of you are looking at a future that is quite different than what you have known for many years.

Some today are looking into an unknown future.

Some today are beginning afresh because they have lost a loved one and now life is new in a different way.

Yet, some are new in their walk with Christ.

Regardless which one describes you, we are all looking at something new in our lives.

A new beginning may seem to be impossible and it may feel like it takes forever to happen.

Let me list you some examples.

The first electric light was so dim that a candle was needed to see its socket. One of the first steamboats took 32 hours to chug its way from New York to Albany, a distance of 150 miles. Wilbur and Orville Wright's first airplane flight lasted only 12 seconds. And the first automobiles traveled 2 to 4 miles per hour and broke down often. Carriages would pass them with their passengers shouting, "Get a horse!"

We now have lights as bright as daylight.

Boats now traverse the vast oceans in no time.

Airplanes now can fly almost around the world without stopping.

And cars can run at speeds of twenty times that of the earlier if not faster and for several thousands of miles before breaking down.

What is the same with all of these is that they all had to begin at a point and it took time to get where they are.

Nothing comes fast, nothing worth having anyway.

So, do not let the new beginning hold you back because it seems like it is taking forever. Give it time and trust the Lord.

Today we will look at a new beginning for a man named Abram, we all know him as Abraham.

He received a promise that took 24 years to fulfill. That took time and waiting. But it happened.

What we read in Gen. 12:1-9...

Genesis 12:1–9 ESV

1 Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. 2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” 4 So Abram went, as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. 5 And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother’s son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people that they had acquired in Haran, and they set out to go to the land of Canaan. When they came to the land of Canaan, 6 Abram passed through the land to the place at Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. 7 Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built there an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him. 8 From there he moved to the hill country on the east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. And there he built an altar to the Lord and called upon the name of the Lord. 9 And Abram journeyed on, still going toward the Negeb.

Is a call to the unknown, an entering the unknown by faith, and a mindset to not look back.

The Call to the Unknown

God called Abraham to leave his country and family behind.

He was to go to a land that God would show him.

He had no idea what this land was or where it was, just that God told him to go.

Abraham was in a pagan nation and was not a believer yet, he just knew that this was God who told him and he listened.

He was told to go because it was for his benefit.

He would be blessed when he went because this is what God planned for him.

Maybe you feel that you are facing a giant of a crises with what to do today.

Maybe you are looking into the unknown and uncertain of what to do.

Know that God may not tell you everything that you are to do, but know that the Lord is with you and will guide you.

As one commentator wrote about his coming to America years ago.

He wrote he came for selfish reasons and it was not entirely of God but that God demonstrated through concrete signs that he was supposed to be here.

But this does not mean...

We will not always know the why or what

God is not always open to us with His signs and interventions. We may get the idea that God spoke to Abraham all the time but that is not the case.

God spoke to him a few times and it was spread over a 25 year period.

Abraham went through a number of crises without a reference to God talking to him.

Abraham faced trials and struggles just as you do and will in theses days ahead.

He did this not knowing exactly what was going to happen just that he knew he had to go because the Lord had prompted him to go.

Abraham went without thinking it over. He just went because he felt compelled to obey.

Today you are looking at a sea of uncertainty and struggling to decide what to do.

It is new, graduation, moving on without a loved one, a new job, new in Christ and uncertain of what that means.

The unknown is the only certainty we have. We face it everyday not knowing what will happen.

So take it slow. Do not rush but do go into it.

Just as the boats, light bulbs, and cars all developed slowly over time, you can to.

There is uncertainty in all of life but we continue anyway.

Do this now and...

Don’t fear the dangers of uncertainty

Abraham went into a foreign land that he knew nothing about.

He went in because he knew he should.

Don’t let the fears of something new scare you away.

We must do new things if we are to grow.

Uncertainty is common and “God is no especially inclined to do things the obvious, sensible, or easy way.” (Goldingay, Genesis for Everyone, 136.)

The thing that Abraham had that you have is that God is with you.

If you are a believer you have the Lord with you and He will guide you.

You are not going it alone.

Also, look at Abraham he was not alone. He had family with him and people who followed him.

You have family and a church family that is here for you in this new beginning.

We are for you and want to help you in all areas we can.

You are not alone even if you are thousands of miles away.

Know today just as Abraham went into the unknown, he had the Lord and family and you do too.

That is why we can...

By Faith Enter the Unknown

Trust God knows best

Just as God told Abraham that it is for his benefit to go, know that if you never move you will never benefit.

It takes doing something to grow.

Sitting in comfort never grows anyone.

Sitting out because of fear never develops anyone.

Just like in our military spec ops training they train you to get comfortable in the uncomfortable.

God does this with you and me and is what He did with Abraham.

When we step out into the unknown and our comfort zones, we are showing the Lord we trust Him over our own thoughts and ideas.

When we do this we...

Trust God to guide you

He knows far more than any of us ever will.

He knows what is best for us even when we think we know.

I am sure Abraham would have been perfectly happy staying right where he was, but God knew what was best and what needed to happen.

God knows what is best for us. He knows more than we ever could hope to know.

He will never guide you into something He will not be with you through.

He will take you into situations you can’t handle so it is best to give it to Him and let Him guide and handle it for you.

You, and me, we are not made to be able to handle everything.

Like in the movie about the real life event in Benghazi called 13 Hours in Benghazi.

At the end Tanto, one of the men in the fight, said to his fellow spec ops men, “Any other six men and we would not have made it.”

He knew they were in a bad situation and that alone none of them could have done it. It took all of them giving it their all to make it through.

Guess what, if you are the Lord’s, you have the one who guarantees to not leave you or forsake you (Heb. 13:5) and the one who has “began a good work in you will bring it to completion” (Phil. 1:6).

Not only that but He has promised to give you an escape from temptations and struggles 1 Cor. 10:13.

That is the one who is for you and the one who has said He will fight for you all you need to do is be silent (Ex. 14:14).

Trust this God to guide you because He knows best.

Just remember it may take a lot longer than you feel it should but know He is working and developing you.

One more thing about by faith going...

You are never too old to start over

Too often people think that they are too old to do something new.

We think that saying about not being able to teach an old dog new tricks is true of us.

Look at Abraham. In verse 4 we see that he was 75 years old when he started this new beginning.

We live in a culture that says you should retire at 65 and spend the next few years playing and having fun.

That is not what life is about.

We continue to go and do until we are incapable of doing and going.

Prime example.

I have had several people in my time in seminary that were in class with me who were 60, 70, almost 80 years old.

They say that it is never too late to learn more.

This is the truth. We can always, and should always learn.

We can always do something new with the Lord.

Age is just a number. Even if your body is battered, you can still do new things.

Do not let your age hinder you.

The same can be said about youthfulness.

Sometimes people try and hold you back because you are young.

That is not an issue either if the Lord is with you.

So, if the Lord is compelling you to change at 60 or to begin at 16, follow him and know he is above anyone, including you, that tells you no.

But most importantly...

Don’t Look Back

We fail in new adventures too often because we look back to the comforts we left.

We want what we had there and fail in what we are doing when we may be right at the cusp of achieving exactly what we were after.

Abraham took everything with him he needed, family, necessities, and help and did not look back.

What he did was...

Let nothing behind draw you back

It will be hard to set out on your own on this new beginning.

Abraham left his home and his country, as well as his fathers house.

He left so much of the comfort zone behind it was crazy.

Yet, he did not let any of that draw him back.

Why? Because he knew that God was with him and guiding him.

He knew he was leaving the lesser for the greater.

He knew he had many blessings ahead.

You may not know this.

You may be thinking maybe I am wrong.

You may be fighting against what you feel is absolutely correct to do.

As a new believer you may feel that your past life was better.

Know that it is not.

That past life of sin and wickedness is death and a trap.

It will lead you to a pit of despair. It will make you fall. Do not look back and fall.

When walking we need to look where we are going so we do not trip, correct?

It is the same with this new beginning.

If you are continually looking back at what was you will fall before you get to what is to be.

Graduate, you may be looking back at the comforts of high school and home.

You may be thinking that this new beginning is too much.

You may want to go back and never grow to be what you are meant to be.

Stay the course and trust God to guide you.

If you go back you will never know what was before you.

You will continually trip over your past achievements or failures if you continue to look back.

It does not help you achieve anything looking at what was because that is over and finished.

What lies before you is something beyond anything we can imagine.

Also, any who are beginning again without a loved one.

God is with you too.

He is guiding you and seeking to show what lies ahead.

If you continually live in what was, you will be miserable because living in the past does not bring the past back.

All it does is cause you to have regrets over things you can’t change.

Let God soothe you and seek His promises of never leaving you and that He will guide you.

What each of you and all of us need to do is...

Keep looking forward to what God has before you

One thing is certain, the future is never certain.

But a continual looking at your past will make your future no different than your past.

God has delivered you to new life, a new path, or a life that is now different.

He has you on this path now and this path is on you continue down.

The text tells us that Abraham continued into the land and the Lord appeared to him again telling him the land was his.

All of the land that is. He continued into it and settled because he trusted God.

He knew that whatever God had for him was in this new place and he was going to continue in it until God did what he was to do.

But he did this through two things

Commit yourself to God

Publicly praise God

Abraham built this altar and called on the Lord.

His building the altar demonstrated he was here to stay and his calling on the name of the Lord shows he publicly worshipped God.

He made his faith evident to all who were near.

By doing this he demonstrated an example of what being blessed by the Lord looks like.

He was a blessing to others because of his blessing because he demonstrated what it looks like to trust God.

While you are on this new beginning be certain to make God number one in your life.

By doing this you show the world that you trust Him over anything the world says.

When you worship God and seek to understand what He is doing, you show all people that He is number one and that you trust Him.

When you do this you show the world that your whole life is staked out to the Lord and He is your guiding force in everything.

Also, when we honor God through genuine worship and seeking of Him, we will be blessed because we will have a more intimate relationship with Him.

We will know more about what we are to do because we know more about God than those around us trying to tell us to do this or that which is against what we know God wants.

So stay the course.

Stay focused on the Lord.

Let him guide you and let Him make you known, not yourself but Him alone.

When we are on a new beginning we too often want to make a name for ourselves because we think that is what we are supposed to do because that is what the world does.

Don’t worry about trying to make a name for yourself.

Don’t try and make yourself great, trust God, and if you are to be great, He will make certain of it.

Abraham just went and followed God and God made him great.

Maybe faithful obedience to God and His word is all you need to do to be great.

Conclusion

Let me end with this story.

On a plaque marking Abraham Lincoln's birthplace near Hodgenville, Kentucky, is recorded this scrap of conversation: "Any news down 't the village, Ezry?" "Well, Squire McLain's gone t' Washington t' see Madison swore in, and ol' Spellman tells me this Bonaparte fella has captured most o' Spain. What's new out here, neighbor?" "Nuthin' nuthin' a'tall, 'cept fer a new baby born t' Tom Lincoln's. Nothin' ever happens out here." Some events, whether birthdays in Hodgenville (or Bethlehem) or spiritual rebirth in a person's life, may not create much earthly splash, but those of lasting importance will eventually get the notice they deserve.

Just follow God on this new beginning and let Him do the rest.

As the old hymn sings,

“Trust and obey, for there’s no other way To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.”

If you trust the Lord and faithfully obey Him, you will be happy because you will be going and doing and following Him and will be blessed and will bless many others.