Making Me New

I first heard the song “Beautiful Things” by Gungor several years ago and immediately fell in love with it.

(In case you want to give it a listen, here you go!)

I was drawn to the song because of its unique sound and, well, “beautiful” lyrics. It’s what I would consider a pretty song.

When we sang it in church this week, I felt God speak to me about one particular line

“You make me new, You are making me new.”

Who I used to be embarrasses me sometimes. The past several days, I’ve been going through old pictures and videos on our computer. Wowzers! Nothing will bring flames to my cheeks quicker than hearing a younger version of myself talking.

There are dozens of pictures of me as a new mama – insecure, over-protective, and an overall hot mess quite often. I laughed and shook my head as I thought about who I was before I grew up more in my faith.

Those recollections made me smile and breathe a little easier each time I sang,

“You make me new! You are making me new!”

Instead of auto-piloting through the rest of the times the song repeated itself like I usually tend to do, I began reflecting on what being made new has meant in my life.

It’s meant being broken.

It’s meant losing things and people I loved.

It’s meant embracing grace when I mess up.

Being made new has required me to live through difficult seasons of letting go, being humbled, stripping away perceptions, and learning what Truth is through incredible pain. I have certainly gotten dirty climbing out of some of those pits of despair I found myself hurled into.

But God makes “beautiful things out of the dust!”

These words washed over me like the refreshing rain after a hot, filthy season of drought.

I can’t be made new into something beautiful without first getting rid of the natural human tendencies to hold onto the ugly things that have made up parts of life.

Being made new is rarely a pretty process, but it’s the end result that makes it worth it.

However, even though it’s not especially easy to be made new, this doesn’t mean that there are beautiful things God brings into our lives along the way. I am also starting to realize that there can be glimmers of beauty that radiate from us as we grow into who He intends us to be.

I reflect on my life often. Many parts about it are beautiful, but I don’t usually think of myself as beautiful, too. That’s a shame, really, since God is my creator, and He created me in His image.

Undoubtedly, I haven’t always acted beautifully, nor have I looked it when I’ve chosen my own path.

Yet God is making something incredibly beautiful out of me: dusty, tired, confused, and human me.

I’m not going to be made over into the completed version of who God wants me to be here on earth. I’m a work in progress that won’t completely arrive this side of heaven. In the meantime, I’m doing my best to gratefully look at how graciously my loving Creator has skillfully chiseled me so far.