New Life

The moment came with clarity and power, even if it was a creation of my imagination. I let it come and speak to me knowing that such visions are often my soul, or God, trying to tell me something.

I was standing front of the individual who was about to enter Fellowship Hall, an alcohol rehab facility near where I live. The person was bleary-eyed, nervous, and a little embarrassed. I completely understood because I have been there before.  There were only three steps up to the front door, but the climb ahead was overwhelming. I smiled and handed him the medal I was given for completing the half marathon which raised the money to pay for the individual’s time there.

I wanted to tell the person it was going to be alright. There’s new life on the other side, I wanted to promise, but there’s a lot of hard work to get there. The new life that is yours for the taking is a gift. You can either receive it or refuse it, but if you accept it, the new life will change everything. Some of that change will be surprising, maybe even unwanted. No wonder so few climb the steps to the door.

The vision got blurry at this point. I suppose I touched his or her shoulder and said I’d be with him/her throughout. It wasn’t until I opened my eyes that I saw the moment was for me. It was the moment given to me, and countless others, throughout the ages regardless of whether we have needed rehab or not.

The one who created us stands before us and offers us new life. The journey is overwhelming, but the look in God’s eyes is one of understanding, like he knows what we’re about to go through, like he intends to be with us throughout it. If we accept the gift, the life we find may not be the one we imagined but be the life for which we’ve always dreamed.

Despite what the world and many self-help books tell us, it’s not a life of our creating. It is a gift, a life beyond our vision, beyond our efforts, although it will take all that we have to find it. The work is endless and will require complete surrender and the willingness to stumble or fall along the way. We will lose and find friends along the way, just as we will come to know the one who stands before us offering the gift.

God stands before us, just as God walks beside us on the other side of the door. On the other side is a stranger, it has been said, and the stranger is us . . . our authentic selves, the people we were created to be – completely loved, fully redeemed, and sustained for the rest of our journey.