By: Elizabeth Haarberg

Getting Rid of the Old to Make Room For the Better

You can listen to today’s devotion by clicking on this SoundCloud link.

I removed some landscape around our house. We debated on just cutting the landscape back, but one of the bushes was so big and close to the house that we were concerned about the roots growing into the foundation of the house.

As we removed the snowball bush, it made me sad that we couldn’t move it to a different location. I researched how to move a large bush and it seemed complicated due to the root system. We decided to take it out, but I was still sad about the beautiful bush being destroyed. As we were removing the bush, it made me think about how we sometimes have to remove good things in our lives for something even better.

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!”
2 Corinthians 5:17 English Standard Version

Even though old things may seem fine in the moment, God wants to do something new in our lives.

“See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way
in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.”
Isaiah 43:19 English Standard Version

The snowball bush is good, but the root system potentially hurting our house is not. The bush is pretty, but taking it down to make room for something better is best.

There have been times in my life that I was fine with something, but God removed or changed it for my benefit. Even though I mourned the change at the time, God knew I needed something different. This could be a job, a relationship, a move; it could be anything.

“The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge,
my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.”
Psalm 18:2 English Standard Version

When we have a relationship with God, we trust that the work He is doing is always good, even if we don’t understand or agree.

Copyright Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Colorado Springs, Colorado