Start Over: Help and Hope for Your New BeginningSample

We all have preferences.

My wife prefers her food not to touch, especially at holiday meals. However, I figure since it’s all going to be together in my body, what difference does the stuffing touching the turkey make?!

The challenge of preferences often leads us to consider certain items as black-and-white, or this-or-that propositions when the truth has more nuance and tension to it.

As a pastor, I’ve spent almost 20 years of my life encouraging and supporting people who are starting over and beginning again. Over that time, I’ve noticed a consistent theme, which is the interplay between grace and effort. Some people focus on what they need to do, while others focus on what they need to believe. Some people believe the difference is the grace of God at work, while others believe the true power comes from their hard work and discipline.

These two realities - God’s grace and man’s effort - are the source of centuries of writing, debating, and diverging among followers of Jesus. The tension between these two elements is perfectly embodied by the words of the Apostle Paul in his first letter to the Corinthians. “But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.” (1 Corinthians 15:10 CSB)

All too often, we put grace and effort at odds with one another. But, here in 1 Corinthians 15, we see how grace and effort danced with each other in Paul’s life. No one’s story is more unexplainable without grace than Paul’s, yet no one’s life required more discipline and grit than his.

In this verse, Paul acknowledged that he cannot explain who he is without the grace of God. Yet, he also said he worked harder than anyone else. To add even another layer to this incredible truth in tension, he states that the only way he was able to work that hard was the grace of God sustaining him.

When we start over, we are embracing the grace of God. During a past attempt or in a season that has been completed, we fell short of our goals or God’s standard. We have learned, grown and we’re ready to begin again. The chance to try again is in and of itself a gift. Every new beginning is an expression of God’s grace. In Lamentations 3, Jeremiah used the sunrise as a metaphor for God’s reservoir of mercy being renewed.

All too often in the church, we’ve heard messages that pit grace and effort against each other. Dallas Willard spoke to this problem powerfully when he wrote, “Grace isn’t opposed to effort; grace is opposed to earning.”

When we begin again, we’re receiving a gift from God that we have not earned. As with all gifts, earning has no place in the conversation. However, the steps that will follow our new beginning will require tremendous effort.

If you’re beginning to rebuild a relationship, the path you’re embarking on will stretch you in every conceivable way (and in some ways you cannot even imagine today).

If you’re beginning to pursue a new goal, you will need to embrace daily practices that run counter to the weakness of your flesh and the temptations you’ll face.

If you’re beginning a season of sobriety, you’re embracing the freedom Jesus purchased for you on the cross, even as you stand firm and resist the temptation of your past addiction.

So, as you start over, remember - grace isn’t opposed to effort. Grace is opposed to earning. You did not and cannot earn the love of your Heavenly Father. You didn’t earn this new beginning. It’s a gift.

Stewarding this gift and embracing your new beginning is going to take effort. And I look forward to helping you know the secret to that effort in tomorrow’s devotional. Can’t wait to share more with you then!