You’ve Got a New Thing Coming

A New Year Message; Moving from 2024 to 2025

I was listening to a well delivered sermon online at Champion Church this past Sunday. It was entitled: “Failure isn’t Final”. As any good sermon should, it got me to thinking.

When we head  into a new year it’s common practice to reflect on the year we are saying goodbye to. Oftentimes we tend to focus entirely too much on our regrets and failures when we look back.

The more I thought about failure not being final, I was encouraged to research those who have experienced failure in their lives but did not allow the failure to define them. History provides us with plenty of examples of highly successful men and women who were no stranger to failure.  But through motivation and determination, and for many of them, faith, they persevered and became all that God intended them to be. They put aside the rejections or setbacks and they applied faith and determination to keep going.

I thought I would list a few examples;

1.   Henry Dyson’s frustrations and failures were what led him to eventual success. He invented the bagless vacuum. Ladies - anyone remember  the vacuums with bags?  I vaguely do ! My mother used to lay out newspaper on the floor and unlatch the back of the vacuum and hold the open end of the bag to the paper and shake the bag to loosen the dirt. But there was always that cloud of brown dust that rose into the air to eventually regain its rightful place in the carpet.

Dyson experienced 5,126 failed prototypes – we know this because he kept count. He also burned through his savings.  But he never saw his failings as final. He  saw them as one step closer to success.

2.   Walt Disney started a business in his garage. His first cartoon company went bankrupt. He experienced nonpayment from distributors, lost control of a cartoon character when a producer hired away his cartoonists  and took the characters with them. Pinocchio, Fantasia and Bambi were box office flops. When Disneyland first opened there were forged tickets, melted asphalt and a plumber’s strike to deal with. He was rejected by 300 banks while trying to secure funding for Disney. But he never gave up.  He once said: “All I ask of myself is to live a good Christian life and toward that objective I bend every effort in shaping my personal, domestic and professional activities and growth,” .

3.   Colonel Sanders of KFC fame had experienced more than 1,000 rejections of his famous fried chicken recipe before it became a fast-food favorite.

4.   Abraham Lincoln, one of the greatest leaders and U.S. presidents in history, had failed in business and elections. He lost his job in 1832. He was defeated for state legislature in 1832. Failed in business in 1833. Lincoln ran for the U.S. Senate and lost twice. He also ran for the U.S. House of Representatives and lost twice before finally getting elected in 1846 and then Elected President in 1860. This only tells me that he wasn’t meant for those things that didn’t pan out. He was meant for one great thing for a time where a man of his character would be so sorely needed. He has famously said; "Without the assistance of that divine being, I cannot succeed. With that assistance I cannot fail". 

5.   Thomas Edison  had more than 10,000 failed experiments before he got the lightbulb right. Edison said of failure;  “I have not failed 10,000 times—I've successfully found 10,000 ways that will not work”

As for me – I like to look at biblical characters and how their failures were the catalyst to greatness. They give me the most hope. Even in their failures,  when they were truly repentant,  they were able to proceed on their way to fulfill the purpose and path that God had laid out for them.

The first person I think of is King David.  Now here is an example of someone who got a lot of things wrong.  David committed adultery and had his lover's husband killed by sending him into battle.  David clearly abused his power. King David’s family was a “royal” mess.

Despite all of his failures, David became known as "a man after God's own heart".  Because of his sincere repentance he didn’t take up residence in those failures. Read Psalm 51 to fully grasp the depth of his despair over his sin. It is a guideline for those of us who have regrets over our own failures and shortcomings.

King David wasn’t the only one in scripture who rose up from failure; there was Moses, prophets, the Apostle Paul, and Peter, to name a few. Those who are represented in scripture that got off course often found that acknowledgement, repentance, and renewal, led them back to the path of success.

Friends, acquaintances, colleagues, bosses, and even family will try to keep you in past failures. They won’t see that you have climbed out or that you now know better. You know that there is redemption and renewal. You know that there is a great calling on your life. Don’t allow others to keep you in the past. Don’t allow yourself to live there.

I love the story of the eagle and the crow. Crows have been known to peck at an eagle's neck while sitting on its back. The eagle will usually respond by soaring higher, making it harder for the crow to breathe. At some point there is not enough oxygen for the crow and as a result he will fall from the eagle. Keep soaring higher even as the crows in your life try to pick away at you. Starve the criticizers of oxygen as you ignore them and climb to the new heights God has ordained for you.  

I want to encourage you as we head into 2025 to leave the failures and the disappointments behind. Whether that disappointment is in yourself or others – or in both - move forward determined for redemption and renewal.

I mentioned in the beginning of this message that we focus perhaps too much on our failures. Recognizing our failures is a good thing. Living in defeat is not. Identify the failures, ask for forgiveness if necessary, and watch what God does.

I think there a good many of us who have great expectations for this coming new year. I believe that God is intentionally shaping each of us and preparing us to contribute in our own unique way. Many have felt as though they were in a holding pattern for some time. Others have been going through growing pains. All of us are being prepared. There is much work to do, and He needs us to be strong, courageous, and undeterred. Trust the plan. Your story isn’t over yet.

Like Abraham Lincoln, all that you have experienced so far is to prepare you for that one great purpose awaiting you.  I love the lyrics from the Elevation Worship song; “New Thing Coming”. The chorus is “Darkness bow down to the day, Mountains get up out my way, breaking out of yesterday, I got a new thing coming. Tell this giant in my face - You're not greater than my faith. Best believe me when I say I got a new thing coming.” We’ve got a new thing coming – you better believe it. God has been preparing you for this.  

Let go and let God continue to write your story. Trust Him with it. Push yourself through the difficult chapters. They are there for a reason. The fact that the reason for those difficulties is not yet clear to you is irrelevant. Understand, this is your story, your earthly play. Yes,  you are the actor but remember that above all -  God is the play write.

And He’s got a new thing coming to you.

I’ve written more on this subject in my July 2024 message on She Is Called by Him.

Happy New Year to you!