Forward-Thinking Elasticity

Luke 5:37-38 (NIV®)
No one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the new wine will burst the skins; the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, new wine must be poured into new wineskins.

During the winemaking process, gas is created as the grapes are fermenting. If you put new wine into an old wineskin that has lost its elasticity, that gas will burst the skin, and your wine will be lost. God is doing new things, and He wants us to be flexible like new wineskins. Experience of the past is helpful, but we’re going to need more than that. We need to learn new responses and new ways of doing things. “But I liked the old ways,” you may be thinking. I hear you. Duly noted. “I don’t like change.” Many of us don’t. Change can be hard, but change can also be exactly what we need in order to move ahead more effectively. Accepting and even appreciating change may require a conscious decision. Will we dig in our heels and be pulled forward with an attitude of resentment? Or will we learn to appreciate the new and walk into the future with anticipation?

THINK ABOUT IT
Ask the Lord to upgrade your flexibility and prepare you for all the changes you will experience in your path toward the future. 

PRAYER
Heavenly Father, forgive me when, in frustration, I have resented change.  I want to align my will with Yours. Help me to think and act in new ways when a change from You is required and anticipate a future filled with Your goodness. In Jesus’ name, amen.