Yesterday, in a hospital surgical suite in Los Angeles, my wife’s older sister received something new. Jessica is 41 years old, wife to her husband, Aren and mother to four young children. Her heart was broken, failing her, threatening her life. So, yesterday they took it out and put in a new heart. A new heart is truly something new. Until her surgery, her new heart was inside a different person pumping blood through their body and now it is inside Jessica’s chest.
Jess received something new physically, but she received something new spiritually as well. She will never be the same going forward. There will be something new about her experience of this world, her faith, her perspective about life. She has walked a road that not many will walk in the same way. She has faced months in hospitals away from her family, wondering if she would get out. She has had to wrestle with her Savior about all of this. She has faced the end of life at 41 and has literally been given a new heart. Jess is a rock, she is calm, she is caring, she is faithful and steady. I can’t wait to see what walking out of this will bring her spirit and her soul.
One of the most difficult aspects of this story is knowing that there is another side to Jessica’s new heart. What is new to Jessica once belonged to someone else. We don’t know anything about who this heart belonged to before yesterday or for how long. We don’t know what color skin the person was wearing or what sex they were or what color eyes they had or what religion they followed or what enneagram number they were. For now, we only know that they died and left behind a very good heart. In fact, they left what the surgeons described as the perfect heart for her.
Something new often comes from some kind of death preceding it.
New ideas are birthed from the death of old ideas. New dreams come only when you trade in old dreams. This pattern is universal, and it surrounds us. It is the thing that is always happening from the micro to the macro. From cells to stars in the cosmos…death and rebirth, new and old.
Of these things Jesus was and is the Master and our Teacher. He not only knew these realities as facts like we do but he knew them in his body, he wore these realities. I encourage you to read your Bible and see for yourself. Let His Spirit speak to you.
Life and death, new and old are a result of each other and both are equally necessary for this life before Christ returns. This is what Jesus teaches us over and over again. Be willing to receive something new and be equally willing to participate in the death that must occur for the new to be birthed.
Look back at your life and consider the best something(s) new you ever experienced. Think also about what the cost was for you, what did you need to let go of first?
Knowing these things about our past helps us to trust the Father when he asks us to open our hands and let something go…faith says that He will place back into these hands something new.
Suggested exercise:
Take a slow walk outside. Find the most undeveloped place near you that would be nice to walk and meditate. Pay attention to the world around you while you move. Jesus so often taught us by pointing out the environment around Him. Pay attention and have a conversation with the Lord. Notice how in the big ways and small life often springs from death first. Is it time for something to die so something else may spring forth? Ask Him what you need to sacrifice in your life and wait for His answer.
In the comments below, share your thoughts about stepping into something new from something old. What do you have to sacrifice? What do you hope to receive?
Tyler is a RevWild member of squad 0001. He currently resides in Valencia, Spain with his wife and 5 children Ava, Rhett, Emeline, Calvin and Theodore.
Thinking about Instructor Training?
Whatever your fears or concerns are, we want you to ask the questions! Then take the next step and trust the Lord to meet you.
If you’re in this to serve and love God first, He absolutely will bring you a return on investment.
More than you could ever imagine!
Join us live on July 22nd at 2 PM EST.
12 Responses
I cannot even begin to describe how much I needed this post today! Yesterday I had a meeting with my boss that turned into a counseling session and the two of us deciding together that it was time for me to move forward and turn in my resignation. While I’m sad to leave a place where I’ve invested three years of my time, I am now free to pursue the career that I was made for, rather than a job that I’m good at. Thank you for reminding me that Jesus prunes and trims old branches away in order for new ones to grow. I feel like this blog post was a confirmation that I am on the right track!
What an encouraging testimony, Mansi! I love how God works!
Thanks for the affirmation you gave to Mansi 🙂
Thanks for your witness Mansi. May the Lord fully use you and your gifts for his glory as you pursue this new path.
Thank you Tyler for this blog post. The month of July has been a month about “new” the best ways that “new” things are able to start. I believe that God has an amazing “new” thing planned for me, and it has slowly started to take shape. However, I am still holding on to a few things that probably are best “put to death”. The challenge is the stereotype connected with what I would be putting to death. I continue to process these areas and hope I am able to be truly set free so that God is able to fully use me for God’s glory.
Thank you for sharing, Arlyn! Praying that God meets you in your surrender!
Currently I am taking my walk with Christ a step farther as I am so thirsty for biblical knowledge. I am letting the old me died so I can give birth to new life as I engage in taking classes in Christian education. Learning the application of scripture in my life is helping me in my new walk.
That is so exciting, Lorine! May God bless you in your learning.
Thank you Tyler for writing this during this time. I’m at a place where I need to let my earthly desires and if only statements die because they never satisfy but are like broken cisterns. There needs to be an exchange, instead of holding onto my wants rich are shallow, I need to let go and receive more of Christ and his fullness bring fully convinced his way is better. There are layers to this for me, and I feel though it was a dark 24 hours, God revealed more that needs to die for him to flourish inside me. On my walk I saw beautiful flowers and vegetation growing from the grave of the old. Without it dying, there wasn’t room for new and growth.
Thanks for sharing, Jerry! I can’t wait to hear about what God does with this exchange!
Searching for a new worship community after 44 years in the same one I was confirmed in, married in, worshipped at, served on so many committee’s at, and raised our four kids there, is really hard to do. To walk away from what is comfortable and routine and where you know everyone by name is tough, but, my faith has grown in so many ways since my RW Instructor training (Platoon #21), husband (Platoon #25). I love to serve and help others and I love to spend time with the Lord everyday. As hard as this decision was, I hope to find a new place of worship that aligns more with what I feel God is calling me to do and be. I don’t know where that new place is, yet, but I know without a doubt I need to step out in my faith and trust Him. Lord, lead me now!
Wow that is something new! Praying that God leads you to the right church community!