For A Fresh Start

For a Fresh Start

AS A FIRST-GENERATION native-born American, I understand the impact of new environments. Every day, all over the world, migrants rise above feeling stuck. They dare to replant themselves in environments where they can grow. Similarly, sometimes we’ll need to be replanted—in a new job, in a new church, or even in a new city.

The Bible teaches that we don’t have to live in the “land of stuck.” Indeed, we have the power to reposition ourselves. Jesus himself couldn’t perform miracles in his hometown—because folks couldn’t get over his past. Mark 6:3-6 states, “They scoffed, ‘He’s just a carpenter’ . . . and refused to believe in him. . . . Because of their unbelief, he couldn’t do any miracles among them except to place his hands on a few sick people and heal them. . . . He was amazed at their unbelief.”

We, too, may be amazed by how an environment limits our potential. But we can pray to be replanted—in a place where we can grow and become all that we were created to be.

STRENGTH IN THE WORD

The old life is gone; a new life has begun!

TODAY I DECLARE

If I can’t grow where I am, I’ll change where I am.

PRAYERFUL THOUGHTS

Dear Lord,

If it’s your will, please plant me in a new environment—it’s difficult to flourish where I am. Each time I try to move forward, something (or someone) holds me back.

In the words of Jeremiah 17:8, make me “like [a tree] planted along a riverbank”—in an environment where I can sprout, grow, and thrive. Surround me with people who believe in me, and help me get unstuck.

In Jesus’ name, amen.

KEEPSAKE

“We don’t have to live in the ‘land of stuck.’”