This sign has become the new normal, and everywhere that you turn we are being told to put face masks on! We are told to wear these face masks, and there are rules now that if you don’t have a mask either you’ll get one upon entry, or you can’t enter at all! That’s just become our new normal, that has become our new mode, and that has become our new standard that we have to wear masks in public! I mean that doesn’t mean it isn’t annoying, that doesn’t mean it doesn’t get on your nerves, and that doesn’t mean it doesn’t bother us but it’s the new normal! Because at the end of the day it is either… LIVE OR DIE!!!!
So you see plenty of people now, that will be our and about wearing masks! Now of course there are some who are hard-headed, defiant, and just really being difficult by not wearing masks thinking that they are invincible! Yet, we have seen throughout this pandemic, nobody is invincible and there is no need to risk yourself or others all because you don’t want to wear a mask!! It’s important to wear a mask, and there are times that we are forced to live with some stuff that has become new, that has become our of the ordinary, and that has become the new custom. But it can be a good thing, when we allow it to shape us and serve its purpose it can become a good thing!
I believe the same in our lives as Christian believers, that the Lord is good at shaking things up so that we start to walk down a new level and a new path! There are times that we hang around the ordinary too long, we hang around the complacent too long, and we hang around the just making it by too long so the Lord will give us a new normal and a new standard! There are times that God is giving us a new standard for our good, giving us a new standard so that we stop trying to act like we are okay when we aren’t, and that we are being pushed to another place and spot so that we can really grow and be challenged! God is good like that, that He will institute a new normal in our lives that will really be for our benefit and for our development!
Some stuff that you do now, those things probably wouldn’t have happened if the Lord hadn’t done some switching and some changing in our lives! God is good at that, God is great at that, and I believe that the Lord is strategic at what He does and why He does it. Sometimes the Lord has to give us something new, the Lord has to make us expand, the Lord has to make us change, and the Lord has to make us see that some ways are good but that doesn’t mean that improvements can’t come. It is not a bad thing to improve, it is not a bad thing to want to improve, it is not a a bad thing to live in an improved state, and it is not a bad thing to let the Lord improve you! When you let the Lord improve you then you’ll walk differently, you’ll love differently, you’ll serve differently, you’ll respond differently, and you’ll continue to go forward all because there has been improvements in you!
That’s why some stuff shouldn’t be fought but embraced!!! Embrace the new normal, embrace what the Lord is doing, embrace what the Lord is speaking to you, embrace what the Lord is leading you to, and embrace what the Lord is guiding you to all of that comes into the fold when the Lord is at work! God always is doing something that you need, and see when we really trust and submit to God that we have to allow the Lord to make those changes in our lives for our benefits! There is no need to talk about wanting a better life, if you’re going to fight the changes that the Lord is making in you! How can you grow in your life, how can you grow in your walk, and how can you grow in your development if you’re fighting what you’ve prayed and asked God to do in your life!
There is a blessing in embracing the new, you never know what God is wanting to do because God doesn’t have to try to do anything! You don’t know what God wants to do, and what God wants you to see if you remain stuck on what has been and not trying to see what can become! Maybe that’s why some people are staggering, maybe that’s why some people are lacking, and maybe that’s why some people are sluggish because they don’t see what they can become because of being consumed with what they are! Now… who you are is who the Lord made you, but even in that why not even grow even more into that person that continues to flourish and skyrocket!?!? That’s why you have to embrace the new, embrace the changes, and don’t fight the changes but let them become apart of you, let them lead you, let them shift you, and let them become your new standard of what you consider yourself to be advancement within your life and faith!
Faith is that action that pushes us to a new place, faith is that action that pushes us to a new mentality, and faith is that action that pushes us to a closer relationship with the Lord! In this new normal and season, it will always take some real strong faith to believe in God and to allow God to work! The faith you have in God will uphold you when you have doubts, when you have worries, when you have fears, when you have trepidation’s, when you have second thoughts, when you have questions, and even when you have backlash but the faith that you have in God will be your leader to let you know that the Lord knows what He is doing! God knows why we need a shift, God knows why we need adjustments, and God knows why we need updates but do you have the faith in Him to believe in Him enough to where you go with Him and you go forward with Him!?!? You have to believe in order to go forward, you have to believe in order to see the promise, and you have to believe in order to experience the new level and the new apex.
Anytime you watch golf which is a great sport to watch, you’ll always notice something about a great golfer that they’ll talk with their caddy so that they make the right decision as to what club to use at the right time. Whether it is a par 3, a par 5, or a par 4, there is that relationship that is built between a golfer and a caddy that can not be replaced. Golfers always pick the right caddy, so that the caddy will give them the right words and pieces of advice so that they make sure they have the right club for the match! You’ll see how golfers will embrace the caddy, you’ll see how golfers will celebrate the caddy, and you’ll see how golfers will be grateful for the caddy all because it was the help of that caddy that got them to believe and helped them achieve the victory because they listened and followed!
That’s why the Lord gives us a new normal, because we have to listen and we have to follow what the Lord is saying! That’s why the Lord is making things uneasy right now, making things uncomfortable right now, and making things take a different direction right now because He wants to see if you will listen and follow so that you are pushed to a new space, a new place, a new area in life so that you can see God in a whole different light! There are times, that we can get too lackadaisical with God because we are just looking at God through one scope, through one viewpoint, and through one set of eyes that we need God to shake up so that are vision can expand and so that are spiritual walk can expand! I want to expand, I want to grow, and I want to live even deeper in the full abundance of God that I believe He has but we have to do things differently, yet trust God in everything and watch Him work!
I remember as a kid going to my home Church Greater Mt Olive Baptist Church OKC one Sunday, and I was shocked by what I saw! I was born into that Church, and then my family moved to Arlington, Texas but we would make frequent trips to OKC every year. So this particular Sunday I was shocked because, I remember how Greater Mt Olive looked and then I was expecting to see the renovations that took place. So as a kid I was like “What’s going on, what’s happening, or why is this happening”, but then as I got older I saw that in order to continue to grow, to continue to progress, and to continue to excel you have to be willing to make some changes. So then after the renovations were over, the sanctuary was expanded and then a beautiful family life center was built with a gym and then classrooms on the second and third floors! I always applaud the leadership of my late Pastor – Rev. Dr. A. Glenn Woodberry in how he let the Lord tell him what to do, lead him in what to do, and show him what was going to be best for the Church not just in the present but also in the future!
God is the same way, and God is speaking that to us every day of our lives in so many ways that we have to trust Him enough to let Him grow us, we have to trust Him enough to let Him expand us, and we have to trust Him enough to let Him renovate us!!! Are you really ready for the renovations to take place, are you really ready for the new doors to take place, are you really ready for the new ways to take place, are you really ready for the new miracles and moments to take place!?!? I want the new, I’ve enjoyed what has been but I don’t want to write myself off or even ignore why the Lord still wants to do in my life with the new! There are some new things coming, and there are some new things that are the on the way but it is up to you and I to let the Lord grow us and let the Lord expand us! Trust Him, believe Him, follow Him, and let Him guide and watch how He will provide!
Psalm 23:2 NASB
[2] He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters.
Words From GCB 