I think there is that ever-living hope we all have that this year will be better than the last. Because let’s face it, last year carried some good, but it also held a lot of suffering across our nation and around the world. Of course, other years held suffering too–and in truth we cannot escape life’s trials. And 2018 will bring them to our door, like it or not.
And yet, we don’t think about those things the first week of January. We think of life, of goals, of how many pounds can I lose in a week before I lose heart? We make resolutions or promise ourselves things will be different. WE will be different.
If you are a Christ-follower, perhaps you have decided you will study God’s word more, pray harder, attend church again, give more to the poor…and on it goes. But even Christians can fail at our well-meaning goals. We make promises to ourselves that we cannot keep.
Could it be that we fail at our New Year’s resolutions because we are putting our ability to do, to be in ourselves instead of just trusting God?
I’ve lived a long time–well, it feels that way some days–especially when you work out with a new Pilates routine and your body decides it hates you from then on. But in that living, I have come to understand a few things. One is that we are a fickle people. We all struggle with one thing or another. We are tempted to do exactly what we do not want to do. And we often find ourselves captive to our own selfishness, lusts, cravings, desires, and if you try to tell us what we should or should not do, we will want to do it more or not want to do it at all.
Well, maybe they can in the short term. But if we really want to change, to be transformed into the person we believe we should be, or want to be, or can be? Then we need help outside of ourselves. We don’t just need someone to cheer us on.
There are some of us who are strong-willed determined types. I know because I’m one of them. But that strong will only goes so far. If you tell me I can’t, I’ll think in my heart, “Watch me.” But if I tell myself, “I really want to get in shape and lose ten pounds,” I talk myself out of that Pilates workout or bike ride, and I eat that piece of pie hubby baked just because I can. (Even though I regret it later.)
On a spiritual level, the new year isn’t going to find me as strong-willed and determined as I would like. But it does leave me realizing that even more than last year, which was hard enough, that I need Jesus to get me through each day. Does that mean that each day is going to be a struggle? No. Yes. I don’t know. Jesus said that each day has enough trouble of its own. That leads me to believe that each day is going to have some trouble tripping through it.
And the broken relationships we had last year or the illnesses we faced or the fear we felt won’t be fixed by time – even the turning of the calendar. Time doesn’t heal. God heals. Time sweeps things under the rug and hopes we forget. God exposes our sin and heartache and says, “Let me have it,” and He casts it behind Him where no one can ever see it again.
I look at this new year and think of some of the milestones that are waiting up ahead. I think of the relationships I want to see mended. I think of the way I look at life and how I’ve been missing the joy of my salvation for far too long because my focus has been on the hard times rather than on the one who has the power to fix what troubles me.
So my goals for this year are not many. In fact, I don’t really have a bucket list. I wake up and spend time with Scripture (and coffee) and we pray with thanksgiving and I am asking God to restore to my heart the things the enemy has stolen. As the song title says, “No One Can Steal Our Joy.” So why do I let them?
My word for this year…well, I thought it was hope. But I think it is a combination of words God wants me to make my focus. Hope. Joy. Promise. Recounting the promises of God, praying them back to Him, and clinging to them because I know He keeps them, is what I hope changes me. So that by the end of 2018, I can look back and say, “We had some rough times, but isn’t God good? Look at all of the amazing things He has done!”
I can almost guarantee that if you are reading this, you are looking for answers and searching for hope. May I encourage you?
People will let you down. God will not. We might feel like He has, because God isn’t a magic genie or a robot and he definitely does not act exactly like we think He should. But He has promised to be with us, and God keeps His promises. I could give lots of Scriptural examples of this, but then the post would be a book. So instead?
Not as a “have to do”. Only if you want to. Don’t make goals for yourself that you will berate yourself for breaking. Put your hope in God where is belongs and seek His face this year – wherever you are at with whatever will you possess. Call on His Name. He is near to those who seek Him and trust in Him.
~Selah
#newyearsresolutions #2018hope
