I recently had the opportunity on my day off to do some welding. It wasn’t that big of a deal, other than by the nature of the project I had to do a lot of “tacking” rather than “continuous bead” welding. If you know anything about welding then you know it’s a lot easier and quicker to place a tack without the use of a welding helmet; you just simply close your eyes before you place the tack.
However, even though I shared this priceless information with you, I wouldn’t actually recommend welding without a helmet, especially if you’re going to do a lot of tacking. See, the danger is that the electric arc creates ultraviolet radiation at high levels that can result in severe burns to your face, many times without warning. Infrared radiation is also produced by the welding arc and may cause thermal burns from heating the skin surface and tissues immediately below the surface.
Why am I telling you this? Well, you guessed it; I got a good superficial welder burn on my face and all the skin on my forehead and around my eyes and nose began to peel. It looked terrible. I began to wonder if I should buy some of the Neutrogena Deep Clean Invigorating Foaming Scrub to exfoliate my face in order to remove the dead skin. I decided not to, and thank God, after a few days he gave me a new layer of skin to cover up my foolish mistake.
As I was looking in the mirror realizing that welding without a helmet wasn’t the smartest thing to do, I thought of the many times in my life that God has made a way to recover and renew. In fact one of my favorite verses is Isaiah 43:18-19a, “Forget the former things, do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing”.
See, whether we’ve enjoyed a season of peace and prosperity or are recovering from a season of heartache and pain caused by our stupidity, I believe God is always ready to do something new in and through our lives. So you had a life changing moment back in 1999 when you experienced God in a powerful way, forget about the past, God wants to do a new thing in your life! Or, so you’ve made some bad choices recently that have been very costly; quit dwelling on the past, God wants to do something new in your life in 2013!
The question is, are you open to it. Are you ready to throw off everything that’s been holding you back and are you ready to run the race that’s marked out before you? If so, let me encourage you to offer this prayer. I’ll go first.
Thank you Father for the many ways in the past you have helped me recover from bad decisions. Thank you for the times of peace and prosperity, but I’m ready to forget the past and now I’m eager to follow you into something new and exciting. Lord I give you permission to do a new thing in me in order to advance your kingdom. In Jesus name I pray, Amen!
Happy “God’s gonna do a new thing” Year, Mike