Last week when in Missouri I stayed with my amazing ministry friend Jesse Quiroz.

His parents, allowed Brenda and I to stay in their guest house and wow, what hospitality they showed us.

Sunday morning Jesse was driving me us to his beautiful new church he and Missy are planting when he pointed out to me the tree in the picture below.

Have you ever been in a situation so long that you think it will never change or get better?

I mean have you ever been in a battle that seems to last forever and every morning you get up it is still facing you?

Have you ever experienced seasons  when you feel like you have reached a dead end and there is not way out?

Have you ever just needed a small reminder that things will turn out for the better? That your circumstance will change and the fog will finally clear?

This little tree growing out of a dead cut down stump was that reminder to me this past week.

This “New Life”, this “New Start” was exactly I believe one of the reasons God sent me to Missouri.

I thought I was going to go speak to people for God when actually God was going to speak to me.

This photo of the new tree springing out of the dead stump reminded me of Isaiah 43:19 which says;

“BEHOLD, I WILL DO A NEW THING; NOW IT SHALL SPRING FORTH.”

God says He wants to “do a new thing” for you, so disregard the circumstances and believe the God who cannot lie! The rubbish can be cleared and the bruises can be healed. Just make sure that when the smoke clears you’re still standing. You’re too important to God to be destroyed by a trial that was just meant to give you character and direction. Think: you survived – by the grace of God you made it! God not only brought you through the valley, He caused you to grow in it and come out of it stronger. If you want to know what God can do, look at what He’s already done for you and you’ll start feeling better about your future.

And that’s not all; listen: “Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth.” After feeling like you’ve waited forever, God will move suddenly. If you’re not ready you’ll miss the next open door, the next great idea or the next relationship He has for you. You’ve got to be sensitive to His voice, alert to His movements and live in expectation. After praying and waiting in the upper room for 10 long days we read, “Suddenly there came a sound from heaven” (Acts 2:2), and the church was born; a church that would change the world. When God miraculously brought Paul and Silas out of prison we read, “Suddenly there was a great earthquake…and immediately all the doors were opened” (Acts 16:26). God may be getting ready to open some doors for you – make sure you’re ready when He does.

What to us looks like the end can often be just the beginning of some brand new.

Yes, the end of one thing can be the start of something brand new.

I am so ready for the end so I can experience the new start, the new life and the new thing God has just around the corner.

Steve Lummer

Lead pastor

Prescott First Assembly