New Beginnings

This is my 2nd website. Two days ago my first website crashed. In spite of many efforts on my part and that of the server, it could not be restored. Sadly, I lost all the content and had no personal backup. So, I'm starting over. Live & learn.

My scripture reading this morning included the story of the 3 lepers in 2 Kings 7:3-16.

There was a famine in the city of Samaria. The lepers sat outside the city gate, starving, trying to come up with a survival plan. They reasoned and came up with 3 scenarios:

1. They could go back into the city, starve, and die because there was no food in the city.

2. They could just sit at the gate, starve, and die.

3. They could approach their enemy. Of course, they would probably be killed; or they might be given food. They reasoned that if they were killed, it would be faster than starving to death. So, they took the chance.

If you read the whole story, you find out that God scared the enemy away from their camp. The lepers went right into the enemies' camp, into the tents, ate their fill and then proceeded to help themselves to silver, gold, and clothing that was left behind by the enemy. They went back to Samaria and told the king. The whole city went to the enemy's campsite, ate their fill and took everything left behind (including horses).

I always try to determine "if" and "how" the Word applies to my life. I know this is a stretch. I'm certainly not starving or facing death, but when the website crashed I lost a lot of work which represented hours of praying, studying, writing, designing, etc. All gone! Most of it was very personal, like a part of me. Like this website, the first site was about manna, spiritual food, or the bread of heaven. All that food, gone! Just gone! Famine! (LOL - I know it's a dramatic stretch.)

My 3 options:

1. Grieve, cry, wallow in self-pity and let the dream die.

2. Try to remember the posts (inspirational thoughts, dreams, visions, passages) and rebuild. My followers would have to read these posts again and would probably lose interest. The dream would die.

3. Go forward. Start fresh. I might lose it all again or I might not.

So, I started today with the following declaration:

It's a new day with a new beginning.

The Lord has new mercy for me.

The former things have passed away.

But He will do a new thing

for me, in me, and through me.

The glory of this new blog

will be greater than

the glory of the previous blog.

I choose to rise up

out of disappointment.

I choose to rise up out of failure.

I will not let the fear of failure stop me.

I will go forward into the plans

that Father has for me.

Some of you may need to make this declaration or something similar over your life. Trust God to bring good out of your heartbreak, your stolen dreams, your disappointments, even your screw-ups. He hasn't changed His mind. He still has awesome plans for you. Step out in faith and start again.

References: Psalm 78:24; Isaiah 42:9; Isaiah 43:19-21; Lamentations 3:22-23; Haggai 2:9; Romans 8:28; Jeremiah 29:11; Job 22:28

To read more blogs by Debbie Welty, go to https://www.debbiewelty-blog.com/blog

To visit Debbie's website, go to https://www.debbiewelty-blog.com/