As a student/teacher September always marks a season of new beginnings for me. It’s the start of a new semester, new courses, new teachers, new students, and this year, a new city, new home and new roommates. New beginnings are exciting but also filled with the uncertain and uncomfortable. And in the midst of it, I find myself seeking the reassuring presence of God.
Ezra and Nehemiah recall a season of new beginnings for the people of Israel. As a nation, the people had been exiled to Babylon over 70 years earlier. In the devastating destruction of Jerusalem and the temple in it, their old way of life came to an end. They were forced to start over again in a strange and foreign land. But even as they settled into new rhythms of life in Babylon, hope remained. The prophets of God spoke of a day when they would return once again to Jerusalem. Ezra recalls the day that hope was realized – the day Cyrus decreed that the people could return to their land, to Jerusalem and to their temple. The people who dared to make the journey back believed in new beginnings.
The start of a new journey is one of mixed emotions. Sadness at the loss of the familiar and comfortable. Yet also excitement at the newness of adventure and the potential of the future. Uncertainty, fear, joy, longing, curiosity, disappointment, discomfort. All contribute to the concoction of new beginnings. The people who returned from exile to a destroyed city in an insignificant province of Persia must have experienced many of these same things. Excitement over the new adventure they stepped into. Disappointment when it didn’t meet expectations. And struggle as they adjusted to a new norm.
But new beginnings are also an opportunity for refreshed faith. They require greater trust and reliance on God. The priest Ezra, for example, found himself relying on God for physical protection as he lead a group of people back to Jerusalem. And Nehemiah continually turned to prayer in each circumstance expressing his need for God to act on his behalf. In the uncertainty of the future a new beginning forces one to recognize that only God knows the future and all we can do is follow where he leads. The hope and joy of new adventures anticipates the work of God in our lives to take us further then we’ve gone before. And disappointment reminds us of the need to surrender and trust that God will work all things out for his glory. New beginnings drive us into the arms of God.
Are you in a season of new beginnings? Maybe you are facing a circumstance you’ve never had to face before. Or you are starting a new job, quitting an old one, or taking on a new position and responsibility. Or moving to a new city. Starting a new semester. Joining a new ministry or taking on a new project. Or maybe its simply the beginning of a new season, with new rhythms of life. Whatever your new beginning is, let it drive you into the arms of God. Let your new beginning, drive you to walk by faith in the God of all creation, and in the Savior and Comforter of our souls.