in the hands of the Renewer

Ah, renewal! We humans sure love a good new start, don’t we? Whether it be a fresh school term, the optimism of the new year, or even the satisfaction of knowing library books aren’t going to collect late-fees on our account for another three weeks (Anyone else? Or is that just me?), the soul is lifted at the knowledge that the old has been left behind and the new is filled with possibility.

Even the natural world has a habit of renewal. In the seasons, for one thing: Rest, growth, fruit, harvest, repeat. It seems to me that God has made our world a picture of renewal by design. Think of the night and day. We don’t live perpetually in the daytime or in the night. The sun sets and it rises again: a new day! We have a renewal of light each day—alongside His mercies—how wonderful! And in that space of time are the hours and minutes that pass by only to return. I’ve often thought to myself that each hour, each minute is an opportunity to start fresh when I’m having a tough day. I wonder if our fascination with taking old houses and making them new, or the wanderlust of exploring faraway places, or even acquiring the newest gadgets doesn’t play a little into this desire somehow.

in need of renewal

Be it human invention or God’s natural order, I think the earth and everything in it is wired for renewal. Often, we might look for ways to get a fresh start without understanding why we look forward to this. At the deepest level though, it is our hearts that need renewal most. The truth is that no turn of the calendar or change of address, no fresh coat of paint or purchase of a new gadget is going to sustain our hearts and souls for long, even if those things are exciting and lovely in and of themselves.

Our hearts are gatekeepers; a lot passes in and out through the length of each day. Like a filter, our hearts need a good washout after dealing with so many emotions, stressors, ideas, and choices that pass through as we experience living. Without renewal, (a change of the filter, if you will), our hearts get clogged up and our minds become weighed down terribly by sin and worry, making it hard for us to flourish in God’s plans for us. We need the kind of renewal no surface-level change can accomplish.

God loves renewal; He talks a lot about it in the Bible. In Psalm 51, David sang to God a cry for mercy after he had sinned against the Lord in his actions against Bathsheba and her husband. David’s prayer is so beautiful. It is a humble and adoring plea to start anew.

Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;

Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

Make me hear joy and gladness,

That the bones you have broken may rejoice.

Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities.

Create in me a clean heart, O God,

And renew a steadfast spirit within me.

Do not cast me away from your presence,

And do not take your Holy Spirit from me.

Restore to me the joy of your salvation,

And uphold me by your generous Spirit.

Psalm 51:7-12 NKJV

In these verses, I see the wonderful reality of why Jesus died on the cross for us. I also see a principle for each day. I once read these verses after a hard season and it occurred to me that David asked for things that he could not do himself. He couldn’t purge and wash his stained heart nor unstop his ears. He couldn’t create a new heart or renew anything. He couldn’t restore joy or sustain himself.

Only God can properly and fully cleanse, create, renew, restore and uphold. We can do none of these things in any eternal capacity. God gives these things. It is He that speaks them into reality. We can only make a poor rendition before it crumbles again to dust.

So then, let us put our hearts into the hands of a very tender Potter. How else do we come to renewal but by submission to the Renewer?

a prayer for renewal

Has it been a while since you came to your Father with your struggles and your sins? Have you become chipped and cracked after trying to go your own way for too long? Have you spent too long trying to repair yourself again?

I have felt the need for renewal in my own life recently. I long to have a steadfast spirit, to begin this year as I mean to go on.

I praise God for each new season and each new day that He gives me. I praise Him for the desire of renewal he has placed within me. I pray that we all would recognize our need for His renewal; may we not seek it in ourselves or anywhere else but in Him. I praise the Lord that “according to his lovingkindness, according to the multitude of his tender mercies,” our dirtied hearts are carefully renewed and washed in His hands.  We can go to Him. He will uphold us by His Generous Spirit. We will flourish in his care, no matter what.