Under new management

(Original appeared June 2, 2016)

Deb and I have been dealing with a bit of guilt, thinking of how once the mourning process is complete we might actually find joy and comfort in returning to our old routines. I say that we feel guilt simply because thinking this way seems as though we might just gloss over our precious 44 days with Jacob as though they didn’t happen. But, we are quickly recognizing that there is something different going on in our lives. Returning to our old normal is not what is happening. We’ve been changed forever, and so even our old normal is forever impacted.

We have undergone a significant transformation during all of this. The transformation we have experienced (and frankly, are still enduring) seems to go hand-in-hand with another significant change in our lives: baptism. When we come to faith in Christ Jesus (typically through baptism), we become “under new management”. The process is similar to that run down restaurant you used to enjoy but where the old managers ran it into the ground. When you see a sign hung in the front window that says “Under New Management”, hope returns! The new manager begins to renovate, tearing out the old, and replacing with new.

Jesus refers to this renewal process on several occasions and in different aspects. A few examples are His use of the phrases “born again” or “take up your cross”. The concept is the same: laying down the old, and taking on the new. His phrases do not sugarcoat the process, which likely will be painful or at least uncomfortable. And yet, He is there through it all. We know that, if we suffer through this change following the loss of Jacob, our new Manager will make sure that the new is far better than the old. We cannot let the painful renovation process determine whether we will ultimately enjoy the end product. If that were the case, who would ever renovate their home with new paint, or a patio addition? We undergo the uncomfortable process with the end game in mind. We thank God that He has promised us that the end game is far better than the renovation process. We now put our faith in that promise.

So, are you under new management? Have you allowed the new manager to refurbish you, to tear out the old and renovate with the new?