You Can Begin Again

Joyce Meyer

• Publisher: Hodder Faith
• Year: 2014
• ISBN:
  9781444785371
• Topic: Desarrollo personal
• Subtopic: Superación personal

It's never too late for grace. Look closely enough and you'll see that theme all through the Bible. Page after page, story after story - God delights in turning tragic endings into new beginnings. The barren give birth, doubters become deliverers, and harlots are recast as heroes. In every biblical fresh start, we are reminded that with God, new beginnings aren't the exception; they're the rule.Using a blend of inspiring stories, Scriptural principles, and straight-talk, in You Can Begin Again, Joyce Meyer powerfully demonstrates that God isn't done with you yet. If you're stuck in a rut, disappointed by an outcome, hurting from a wound, failing in an endeavour, struggling in a relationship, or unsure about the future... don't give up. Don't give up on yourself, and don't give up on the God who loves you. If you thought it was too late, it's not. With God you can begin again.

PART I

New Beginnings

Therefore if any person is [ingrafted] in Christ (the Messiah) he is a new creation (a new creature altogether) …

2 Corinthians 5:17; Part I

CHAPTER 1

Help! I’m Stuck!

“Chords that were broken will vibrate once more.”

—Fanny Crosby

A young minister who we will call Eric decided to take piano lessons. Due to his profession, learning to play music just made sense. If his worship leader called in sick, or if a musician backed out moments before a service, he would be able to step in and play. Eric, the piano-playing preacher; he smiled at the thought of it.

Determined, Eric took lessons faithfully for over five years. Every week, he showed up for his Tuesday lesson with a local piano instructor, and every morning he rose early to log diligent practice time. By his own admission, he was far from a natural. The learning was slow-going and the progress was incremental, but with the patience of his teacher and his own desire for improvement, Eric made steady strides toward his goal.

One day, his piano instructor, a local legend with a kind disposition and a no-nonsense work ethic, announced that she scheduled Eric to play in a countywide competition. He would be required to play a full concerto in front of a panel of judges who would grade his performance. Though Eric was hesitant to play in such a venue, his instructor insisted, explaining that the pressure would be good for him.

The Saturday morning of the competition arrived. Eric was extremely nervous as he showed up to his assigned destination, ready to get the whole thing over with. There was an empty practice room available, so Eric practiced his piece repeatedly until it was finally time to face the judges.

As he entered the room, Eric greeted the three accomplished judges anxiously and made his way to the baby grand piano. Though he was perfectly comfortable preaching in front of large crowds, the thought of playing in front of these three musical experts unnerved him. After exhaling slowly, he placed his fingers above the keys and began to play. To his delight, the first few measures of music came out perfectly. It appeared the months of practice had paid off as his fingers touched each key flawlessly, moving from sheer muscle memory. His teacher smiled in the back of the room, and Eric visibly relaxed as he worked his way through the introduction of the assigned piece.

But his confidence didn’t last long—moments later, musical disaster struck. His hands froze over the keys, not knowing where to go next. Inexplicably, Eric, the piano-playing preacher, had forgotten the next note.

After a pause that seemed like an eternity, he guessed at a new note, but it was not even close to being correct. Eric winced at the ugly sound that came from the piano. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the frowning judges marking his mistake. Embarrassed, he shook his head and plowed into another chord, but it was even worse. Eric was hopelessly lost now. Nervous. Confused. Searching.

Not knowing what to do, Eric stopped playing all together. Dejected, he hung his head low. “How could this have happened?” he thought. “I practiced so hard!” Looking at the panel of judges, he said sheepishly, “I’m really sorry. I seem to have forgotten the piece. I’m afraid that if I keep going, it’s only going to get worse. Should I just stop here?”

Should I Just Stop Here?

Do you know what that feels like? Have you ever found yourself so stuck that you didn’t know how to proceed? Stuck in a stagnant marriage. Stuck in a dead-end job. Stuck in an unhealthy lifestyle. Stuck in an uncertainty about your future. You practiced, you prepared, you even prayed, but it feels like you’re going nowhere. Maybe you know exactly what it’s like to think, “I’m afraid that if I keep going, it’s only going to get worse. Should I just stop here?”

I know what it feels like too. There have been times in my life when I felt like I had hit a dead end. Times I thought if I kept going in the direction I was going, I was just going to make matters worse. I’ve run into roadblocks just like you have. There are just some days and some situations that cause us all to freeze in our tracks. I think that’s why I take such comfort in the way Eric’s story ends.

You see, in the tension of the moment, Eric’s piano instructor walked toward him from her place in the back of the room. The judges shifted in their chairs as the teacher calmly approached her discouraged student. When she reached him, she bent over and whispered three sentences into his ear that changed his entire disposition: “Don’t worry,” she said. “It’s not too late. You can begin again.”

Patting his shoulder reassuringly, the teacher winked kindly and then returned to her seat in the back of the room. For my friend, everything changed at that moment. Though he was stuck, he discovered he didn’t have to stay stuck. In the midst of despair, those words were exactly what he needed to hear. Don’t worry. It’s not too late. You can begin again.

It never occurred to Eric that he would be able to start the piece over. Up to this point, the events of his entire life taught him that mistakes equaled failure, and there was no coming back from failure. This was why he worked so hard, and this was why he was so devastated by his predicament. But this opportunity to try again changed the temperature in the room that day. Eric calmed himself, started over, and played freer than he had ever played before. There was no longer any pressure to convince the judges he was perfect. They saw him lose his way but allowed him the chance to find it again. And that is exactly what he did. He played the piece beautifully the second time through, finishing to the applause of the understanding judges and his delighted teacher.

The Whisper Of Grace

When I heard that story, I couldn’t help thinking that Eric’s piano teacher whispered something eternal to him that day. She whispered the language of heaven. She whispered grace. In a moment of desperation, to an anxious soul that was helplessly stuck, she whispered what God whispers to us all: “Don’t worry. It’s not too late. You can begin again.”

I think that at one time or another, all of us get lost in the middle of our song. A failed marriage, a broken dream, a disappointing career, a financial setback, or a family struggle causes us to hang our heads low and wonder where things went wrong. We assume others are watching us like a panel of unforgiving judges, marking our missed notes with enthusiasm. Even worse, we assume God is the head judge, giving disapproving attention to our forgotten melody. With each mistake or setback, we grow ever more nervous, certain we’ll receive a failing grade.

But the Bible gives us quite a different picture of God. Regardless of what you’ve been told, God doesn’t give up on you when you get stuck. He’s not surprised by your situation, and He isn’t mad at you. God doesn’t give a failing grade and then callously move on to the next student. These thoughts about God are lies from the enemy. The devil would have you believe that God is distant, disappointed, or ready to punish you when you make mistakes. Because Satan wants to destroy your life (John 10:10), he repeats these lies as many times as it takes for you to believe them.

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Regardless of what you’ve been told, God doesn’t give up on you when you get stuck.

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Lies That Keep You Stuck

The wrong view of God will keep you stuck. Whether you’re stuck in pain, dysfunction, loneliness, uncertainty, overwhelming debt, or fear, the devil will lie to you about God in order to keep you stuck in that place forever. The first lie we believe is that God is mad at us. We picture God sitting up in heaven frowning at our failure, like an intimidating Driver’s Ed teacher who sighs loudly when you fail to parallel-park correctly.

The devil knows that if you fall for his lie that God is angry, and very disappointed with you, he can keep you from having a real relationship with God. You’ll spend your days trying to earn God’s approval or impress Him with your best actions. You’ll get stuck in a religious, fear-based cycle and never experience the deep, abiding relationship God wants to have with you. And you certainly won’t turn to the Lord when you find yourself unsure of where to go or what to do next. But look at what Hebrews 4:16 says about how you can approach God:

Let us then fearlessly and confidently and boldly draw near to the throne of grace (the throne of God’s unmerited favor to us sinners), that we may receive mercy [for our failures] and find grace to help in good time for every need [appropriate help and well-timed help, coming just when we need it].

Not only can you come to God when you’re stuck, you can come to Him “fearlessly” and “confidently.” You won’t find a harsh, cruel, angry God; you’ll find His “mercy” and “grace.” He loves you, and He’s waiting to help you in your time of need!

Another lie the devil will tell you is that you’re on your own. He wants you to rely on yourself rather than on God, so he tries to get you to think that God has abandoned you. This is a lie that many buy into much too easily. It appeals to our independent nature, and we end up thinking things like, “I made my bed, now I’ve got to lie in it,” or “Well, I made this mess, so I guess I’ve got to clean it up.” And then we go about the pathetic process of self-improvement.

Now, I do believe that we should take steps to improve our lives, but these things never take the place of complete dependence on God. When we try to solve our problems independently from God, we’re like children trying to clean up the spill before Mommy or Daddy sees it—we usually just make things worse.

Proverbs 3:5–6 says: “Lean on, trust in, and be confident in the Lord with all your heart and mind and do not rely on your own insight or understanding. In all your ways know, recognize, and acknowledge Him, and He will direct and make straight and plain your paths.” Notice it doesn’t say, “In a few of your ways acknowledge Him,” and it doesn’t say, “In most of your ways acknowledge Him.” The Word of God says, “In all your ways, know, recognize, and acknowledge Him.”

That means nothing is off-limits. Good or bad, clean or dirty, lost or found, every part of your life can be given to God. You can trust Him with your life even when you’re stuck in a situation and you’re not sure how you got into it, and certainly don’t know how to get out of it! Don’t listen to the lies of the enemy. You don’t have to hide from God out of fear that He is angry or disappointed, and you don’t have to find a way to move forward in your own strength. You can trust God to show you the way.

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Good or bad, clean or dirty, lost or found, every part of your life can be given to God.

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The Redeemer

Ruth knew what it was like to be stuck. The Bible tells us it seemed as if her entire life crashed down around her. Her husband of 10 years died unexpectedly, Naomi (her mother-in-law) was moving away to another country, and Ruth had nowhere to go. As you may well know, sometimes it’s the unforeseen events that do the most damage, cruelly shattering the dreams we once had. This is what happened to Ruth; she was waking up to a harsh new reality.

It would have been easy for Ruth to give up and stay stuck. She could have set up camp right where she was and lived in that trauma forever. No one would have blamed her. She faced a pain she didn’t ask for, a pain that was deep and tragic. She was a victim of her circumstances—circumstances that threatened to ruin her life. The choice Ruth had to make was whether or not to stay a victim.

But Ruth chose to break free. She told Naomi in Ruth 1:16, “… Urge me not to leave you or to turn back from following you; for where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people and your God my God.” Ruth boldly set out on a journey with Naomi and God. She chose a new family, a new place, and a new future. Ruth realized it wasn’t too late to start over.

Though the story of Ruth began in sadness, it ends in great joy. In her new life, Ruth meets a man named Boaz. Boaz is a kind man with great wealth, and he falls in love with Ruth. He provides for her and he protects her. The book of Ruth tells us that Boaz became a redeemer for Ruth. He paid a great price to build a new life for her—a life greater than anything she had imagined.

As you read these pages, I believe God wants to speak to you through the life of ...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Other Books By Joyce
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Epigraph
• Contents
• Introduction
• Part I: New Beginnings
• Part II: What’s Stopping You?
• Part III: Today Is Your Day
• Afterword
• Prayer of Salvation
• About the Author