The New Normal

 

This talk of  "All things new" got me to thinking about different times in my life when things became new and I realized something....Sometimes "new" doesn't translate to "good"...not in our human eyes anyway.  So many difficult things, difficult times are really all about things being "new".  They say change is inevitable but change is usually pretty hard. Loss takes away the things we are accustomed to, comfortable with, happy with....and insecurity, doubt and even pain fill the void.
I remember my parents' divorce and the "new" life we had to adjust to...one without a father in the house...I remember the death of my grandmother, the matriarch of our family, and the "new" life our extended family experienced when she was no longer present to unite us....the experience of changing schools and being the "new" kid...or dealing with the "new" culture of the Northeast after being raised a Southern girl.  I recall losing a job and getting used to the dramatic drop in income and the time when all of my children had finally moved out for good and I knew they weren't coming back.

So many times in life "new" doesn't seem all that "good" at all ...suddenly we are faced with complete upset...loss of health, finances, homes, jobs, friends...loved ones...everything normal is turned upside down and we have no choice...We are held captive to it, enslaved against our will to what we have lost, what can never...ever be regained...the finality of it.  All things are indeed new...in a difficult, scary or even terrible way, what was... is no longer... and we must adjust...we must learn to live with the "new normal".  Such are hard times....only "good" in the eyes of Him who sees all things, the end from the beginning, and works all things for our good and His glory.

 and I say with the Psalmist,

		Ps. 69:1-3 Save me, O God, for the waters have come up to my neck. I sink in the miry depths, where there is no foothold. I have come into the deep waters; the floods engulf me.
		I am worn out calling for help; my throat is parched. My eyes fail, looking for my God.   Ps. 69:13-14 But I pray to you, LORD, in the time of your favor; in your great love, O God, answer me with your sure salvation. Rescue me from the mire, do not let me sink. and He doesn't let us sink...