ReInvent and Transform
Of course, I have to make sure you know we're not talking about change. In my other articles, I've talked in depth about the differences. But quickly, transformation is a state when you can't go back to what once was; e.g. caterpillar to butterfly.
So, let's define ReInvent. (As a quick note, I am intentional in the way I spell ReClaim, ReIgnite, and ReInvent. Re- is attached to any verb or adverb to indicate that the verb or adverb is performed or described again.)
To ReInvent means:
Beyond All You Know
In Isaiah 43 (grab your Bible for a quick study), the Lord talks to the nation of Israel about all the great things He has done for them. How He created them, called them, delivered them, and that even in discipline He has promised to restore them. Yet in verses 18 and 19 in the New Living Translation, it says:
But forget all that—it is nothing compared to what I am going to do.
For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it?
Life gives us lots of opportunity to give up and give in. Or to just settle down and be content. But it is just in those moments when the voice of the Lord says, "WAIT! I HAVE NEWS FOR YOU!"
And He challenges us to press in deeper - believe bigger - trust more. And let Him do something we could never have imagined.
ReInvent When Everything is Great
There's story after story of people who were living a glorious life. All the money they need, family is in great shape, happy. Yet the draw of the Lord couldn't be denied.
I have a friend named Maggie. Retired teacher. Lovely family. Secure home and finances. Then she heard the call to the mission field. At 65. And she sold her furniture, leased her home, sold her car and went overseas to teach English to children. And to share the Gospel with people who have never heard it.
Has it been easy? Heck no!
Has everything worked the way she thought it might? Absolutely not.
Is she still thankful for trusting the voice of the Lord? Without a doubt, yes.
When Your Life Falls Apart
But most of us face reinvention when our world has crashed and burned like a screaming meteor. We really don't have a choice. The spouse is gone. The money is gone. The job is gone. And we are looking at the wreckage of our life wondering "what's next?".
We are afraid and undone. Nothing about the future looks the same.
So first - we ReClaim Hope. Then we consider the possibility of ReIgniting Our Dreams.
We've experienced a catalyst, and now we have to have a response.
There are two choices - crawl into a corner and die a caterpillar, or trust the Lord and experience transformation and reinvention.
Say Yes
I'm not here to say it's easy. I'd laugh in your face if you told me it is easy to turn aside from all your hopes and dreams and walk into a different, new, freaky future.
When you have something to fall back on, you can stand with one foot in the new and one foot in the old until you get your sea legs.
But when you've watched everything burn to the ground, you have to walk away.
A friend of ours had that exact thing happen. Their family home, with all of their history, burned to the ground one night. In fact, I have two friends who have experienced that. And their only choice was to rebuild - reinvent - recreate.
Living in the ashes of sorrow and disappointment is empty. And though you might not be doing that literally, it's possible that emotionally and spiritually you are. You must say YES to the NEXT.
Beauty, Oil, Crowns and Praise - the Garments of ReInvention
Jesus' beautiful words in Luke 4 are the fulfillment of the promise in Isaiah 6.
The Spirit of the Lord GOD is on Me, because the LORD has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and freedom to the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor and the day of our God’s vengeance,
to comfort all who mourn, to console the mourners in Zion—to give them a crown of beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, and a garment of praise for a spirit of despair.
So they will be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.
They will rebuild the ancient ruins; they will restore the places long devastated; they will renew the ruined cities, the desolations of many generations.
Your Life as an Altar
He brings the transformation. We share the ReInvention. We become the testimony of the power of God to take what the world sees as worn out, worthless, and wretched as a new, living creation for the praise of His name.
I recently heard this definition of Blessing: "divine empowerment for expansion."
And for me, this brings home the power of Isaiah 54:
“Shout for joy, O barren woman, who bears no children; break forth in song and cry aloud, you who have never travailed; because more are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband,” says the LORD.
“Enlarge the site of your tent, stretch out the curtains of your dwellings, do not hold back.
Lengthen your ropes and drive your stakes in deep.
For you will spread out to the right and left; your descendants will dispossess the nations and inhabit the desolate cities.
Do not be afraid, for you will not be put to shame; do not be intimidated, for you will not be humiliated.
For you will forget the shame of your youth and will remember no more the reproach of your widowhood.
For your husband is your Maker—the LORD of Hosts is His name—the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; He is called the God of all the earth."
Desolation
Where are your desolate places, Lovely One?
These are the places the Lord has transformation and reinvention for you.
These are the exact places ripe for the "behold, I do something new" and the "shout for joy" and the "beauty, crown, joy" garments.
What areas of hunger drive you? What voices haunt you? Which memories torment you?
Here is where the promises of "no shame", "no intimidation", and "no humiliation" guide you to look out over the horizon and see the abundance of blessing - expansion.
Refuse to play small Lovely. Refuse to allow the enemy, or your own feelings of brokenness, to allow you to remain captive.
Take hold of the promises of God. Yield to His mighty hand. Trust His great and glorious promises.
ReInvent Your World.
