Each Day Is A Brand New Start

I have always been a planner. I’m a goal-oriented person, so I like to have a plan and then check things off my list. However, over the years, I’ve learned an important lesson—life doesn’t always go as planned!

Whether it’s a little plan or a big plan—your daily schedule or your career strategy—it can be disappointing if everything doesn’t work out the way you had hoped. And many people fall apart when their plan falls apart.

There was a time when I would let today’s disappointments ruin tomorrow. I would blow up at Dave and say things I regretted, then spend four days feeling guilty and condemned because of my behavior. Or there have been times when I have missed opportunities and was sure I messed up God’s plan for good.

Little by little, God helped me to change my attitude about these disappointments. Instead of focusing on what has been lost, God helped me to focus on the good things He can do in the future.

Lamentations 3:22-23 (ESV) says, The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning….

It’s no coincidence that our time is divided into 24-hour increments. God gives us new opportunities each and every morning to start fresh! It’s a chance to begin again—to try again, hope again and watch Him do something we never expected.

You see, God is a God of restoration and change—He is always doing a new thing and working behind the scenes in our lives to bring about new beginnings. Where we see failure, God sees potential for something new.

The minute we stumble and come apart, God is already planning our comeback. When we mess up “Plan A,” we don’t have to worry—God has a “Plan B!”

Maybe Plan A for you represents a missed opportunity, a painful past or a relationship that didn’t work out. Or maybe you feel like you made a mistake and there’s no chance that things will turn around.

If so, I want you to take a moment and think about this scripture. Jeremiah 29:11(NIV) says, For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

Regardless of what happened yesterday, last week or last year, God has a great plan for your life—a plan for you to succeed and experience the peace and joy that Jesus died to give you.

This means when Plan A falls apart, you don’t have to be afraid. God has you in the palm of His hands, and He’s already been working on Plan B (see Isaiah 49:13). Instead of staring at the past, He wants you to look through the eyes of faith and get excited about the future!

In fact, I’ve discovered that God’s Plan B is often better than Plan A could have ever been. Even when someone else or an unforeseen circumstance affects our lives, God promises to take the negative things that happen and use it for our good (see Romans 8:28).

In Joel 2:25-26, God says, “I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten…(NIV).” And in Isaiah 61:7 (NIV), He tells us, Instead of your former shame, you will receive a double portion....

With God, no one can ever truly take anything away from you. If you will trust Him, He can take a bad situation and make it up to you.

For instance, as a young adult, I was convinced that being abused as a child had marred me for good. I felt like I could never be like everyone else or have the life I could have had.

But all things are possible with God! When we see dead ends, He sees new beginnings. He wants to take the pain of our past and not only heal it, but He wants to restore to us more than we would have had in the first place!

When we’re in the middle of a bad day or disappointing moment, it’s so tempting to give in to thoughts like, It’s over. It’s too late. But it isn’t too late! It’s never too late to have a fresh start when you have life in Christ. Tomorrow is a new day! It’s a new opportunity to finish that project, mend a relationship, get back to your exercise routine.

I encourage you to look at each day as a chance to start again. When you wake up, declare things like, “This is the day the Lord has made—I will rejoice and be glad in it!” (See Psalm 118:24.)

God is the God of do-overs, second chances and new beginnings. And if you’ll let Him, He will give you a fresh start, and it will be better than you can imagine.