January First: The Adult Version of the First Day of School.
A squeaky clean opportunity to reflect upon the failures and triumphs of the year behind us and start out fresh and new.
Most of us step into the New Year believing that we can climb any mountain, scale any height and generally do and be better people than we ever have before.
Among the top resolutions on an average list of New Year's Resolutions you might find things like:
1. Lose Weight and Get Healthy.
2. Get Out of Debt.
3. Spend More Time With Family and Friends.
4. Get Organized.
5. Enjoy Life More.
6. Quit Smoking.
For those of us within the church making resolutions usually means a renewed focus on our relationship with God. We may resolve to do things like:
1. Read the Bible.
2. Maintian a Regular Quiet Time.
3. Pray More.
4. Find Time to Volunteer.
5. Share More Openly.
6. Try Fasting.
This year, as every year, the thought of thinking up a resolution for the New Year is a daunting task. Years of experiences have proved to me that while I am excellent at pin pointing areas in my life that require change I am a little less excellent on the follow through. It is easy for me to see the problems in my life because they are in my face every day. Sometimes I'm even witty enough to come up with some pretty good solutions to those problems. The thing is writing out those resolutions doesn't immediately solve anything. It just marks up a blank sheet.
Failed Attempts and Good Intentions.
There is a will power, follow through, self discipline aspect that cannot be removed from the 'resolving' process that makes it what it is. Unfortunately my own track record with resolutions is riddled with failed attempts and good intentions. I would be willing to bet that I am not alone in that area. In some ways the whole tradition of making resolutions is kind of crazy. Logic would say that years of bad experiences and failed attempts should have gotten through to us by now. Yet the freedom and release of a new start is what our human hearts crave more than anything and New Year's is our chance to once again look forward with earnest hope.
The thing about New Years resolutions is that often they start out with "I". It's about my efforts, my actions, my resolve. In essence we are saying that we will purpose to do things in order to improve our life and standard of living.
In and of itself that's not necessarily wrong. It's good to pursue healthy living, to enjoy life and family, to take care of and learn to manage money well, to seek out volunteer work, regular bible study or prayer times - all of those are exemplary things to do and we should do them. However we should not do them out of our own strength, we should not place the weight solely on "I" to get them done.
A common theme that is carried through out the Bible is man's determination to live and prosper outside of God's strength accompanied by God's mercy, discipline and sacrifice pointing to the truth: without God's intervention man is hopelessly lost. One story in particular comes to mind as a very good example of failed human efforts and God's intervention.
The Israelites have been miraculously freed from years of gruelling slavery in Egypt. They have seen the power and might of a God who has effectively dethroned and crushed every single Egyptian god in order to redeem the people that he has selected as his own. They are to be set apart. Different.
God's spokesman, Moses, leads them away and into the desert where they are to meet with God and enter into the land that he has promised to them. God officially invites them to become His special people and they resolve to do just that. However there is a catch, being God's special people means living up to Gods righteous standards. Moses goes up the moutain for a training session on righteousness while the people hang out in camp waiting for him to get back. Then they get bored. They lose their resolve and they screw up big time by creating and worshiping a golden calf.
Maybe God was too slow getting the rules back to them or maybe he was trying to make a point.
Under their own power they simply could not keep the rules. In the New Testament Paul explains to us that the law is like a school master pointing us to Christ. When we consider the law it is like looking into a mirror and realizing just how far away we really are from God's standard of righteousness and just how much we are dependant upon His salvation and strength to get by.
I Resolve...
This past year has been amazing. Around this time last January I made no resolutions. Instead I made a decision to trust that God is who he says he is and I followed it up with a step of faith as I got on an airplane for Thailand. Since that time I have hopped in the back of trucks, rode on buses, in vans, tuk tuks, auto's and stumbled onto trains. I have travelled to 11 distinct locations and I have seen God move in miraculous ways in my life and in the lives of people the world over. The whole thing was crazy and amazing but it was still only the start.
2011 was a year of ground breaking. Together God and I dug up some of the twisted and gnarled lies entangling my heart and replaced them with truth. We uncovered and encountered my fears and insecurities in order to restore my identity, value and purpose. We worked side by side within the nations and as we grew closer our conversations grew deeper. We tore down things that were holding me back and we began the long hard work of building up a solid foundation of truth.
Every other year I have viewed the end of the year as redemptive. My heart sighs in relief because I finally get a chance to make up for my short comings from the previous year. I focus on my failures and I resolve to correct and solve each and every one of them as though last years track record has been completely whited out. The thing is even though I have this new year and the resolve to do better I still remember what used to be listed on that record. I remember the way I started out good, fell short, and eventually just forgot about the whole thing. Even with all of the strength and determination I can muster those past failures hang over me taunting my efforts - I just can't let them go. It's like I'm driving a car with my eyes locked on the rearview mirror.
Some Christians live that way. Even though they are saved and completely forgiven they live and define themselves by their past and simply can't let it go. I used to be one of them. This past year God has worked with me to help me deal with the past and direct my focus to what's up ahead. Finally my life has a resemblance of order and I'm actually moving forward.I am not defined by who I used to be and I am not held to my past failures to succeed or follow through.
Today is a new day, the first one of a brand new year but I'm not really looking for a brand new slate. I don't want to start over I just want to keep going. I want to keep doing what I've been doing all year and build onto the foundation I've already begun to lay down. I want to focus on my celebrations and the challenges I've overcome with joy and determination to continue living life as an overcomer. I want to keep running the race I've already started.
I guess if I had to make a resolution that would be it. I resolve to keep running the race.
 |
| Chelsea B., Callie and Jess on a day off in Malaysia. |
A squeaky clean opportunity to reflect upon the failures and triumphs of the year behind us and start out fresh and new.
Most of us step into the New Year believing that we can climb any mountain, scale any height and generally do and be better people than we ever have before.
Among the top resolutions on an average list of New Year's Resolutions you might find things like:
1. Lose Weight and Get Healthy.
2. Get Out of Debt.
3. Spend More Time With Family and Friends.
4. Get Organized.
5. Enjoy Life More.
6. Quit Smoking.
For those of us within the church making resolutions usually means a renewed focus on our relationship with God. We may resolve to do things like:
1. Read the Bible.
2. Maintian a Regular Quiet Time.
3. Pray More.
4. Find Time to Volunteer.
5. Share More Openly.
6. Try Fasting.
This year, as every year, the thought of thinking up a resolution for the New Year is a daunting task. Years of experiences have proved to me that while I am excellent at pin pointing areas in my life that require change I am a little less excellent on the follow through. It is easy for me to see the problems in my life because they are in my face every day. Sometimes I'm even witty enough to come up with some pretty good solutions to those problems. The thing is writing out those resolutions doesn't immediately solve anything. It just marks up a blank sheet.
Failed Attempts and Good Intentions.
There is a will power, follow through, self discipline aspect that cannot be removed from the 'resolving' process that makes it what it is. Unfortunately my own track record with resolutions is riddled with failed attempts and good intentions. I would be willing to bet that I am not alone in that area. In some ways the whole tradition of making resolutions is kind of crazy. Logic would say that years of bad experiences and failed attempts should have gotten through to us by now. Yet the freedom and release of a new start is what our human hearts crave more than anything and New Year's is our chance to once again look forward with earnest hope.
 |
| Some things are beyond our control. A sick child in Australia. |
The thing about New Years resolutions is that often they start out with "I". It's about my efforts, my actions, my resolve. In essence we are saying that we will purpose to do things in order to improve our life and standard of living.
In and of itself that's not necessarily wrong. It's good to pursue healthy living, to enjoy life and family, to take care of and learn to manage money well, to seek out volunteer work, regular bible study or prayer times - all of those are exemplary things to do and we should do them. However we should not do them out of our own strength, we should not place the weight solely on "I" to get them done.
A common theme that is carried through out the Bible is man's determination to live and prosper outside of God's strength accompanied by God's mercy, discipline and sacrifice pointing to the truth: without God's intervention man is hopelessly lost. One story in particular comes to mind as a very good example of failed human efforts and God's intervention.
The Israelites have been miraculously freed from years of gruelling slavery in Egypt. They have seen the power and might of a God who has effectively dethroned and crushed every single Egyptian god in order to redeem the people that he has selected as his own. They are to be set apart. Different.
God's spokesman, Moses, leads them away and into the desert where they are to meet with God and enter into the land that he has promised to them. God officially invites them to become His special people and they resolve to do just that. However there is a catch, being God's special people means living up to Gods righteous standards. Moses goes up the moutain for a training session on righteousness while the people hang out in camp waiting for him to get back. Then they get bored. They lose their resolve and they screw up big time by creating and worshiping a golden calf.
Maybe God was too slow getting the rules back to them or maybe he was trying to make a point.
Under their own power they simply could not keep the rules. In the New Testament Paul explains to us that the law is like a school master pointing us to Christ. When we consider the law it is like looking into a mirror and realizing just how far away we really are from God's standard of righteousness and just how much we are dependant upon His salvation and strength to get by.
I Resolve...
This past year has been amazing. Around this time last January I made no resolutions. Instead I made a decision to trust that God is who he says he is and I followed it up with a step of faith as I got on an airplane for Thailand. Since that time I have hopped in the back of trucks, rode on buses, in vans, tuk tuks, auto's and stumbled onto trains. I have travelled to 11 distinct locations and I have seen God move in miraculous ways in my life and in the lives of people the world over. The whole thing was crazy and amazing but it was still only the start.
2011 was a year of ground breaking. Together God and I dug up some of the twisted and gnarled lies entangling my heart and replaced them with truth. We uncovered and encountered my fears and insecurities in order to restore my identity, value and purpose. We worked side by side within the nations and as we grew closer our conversations grew deeper. We tore down things that were holding me back and we began the long hard work of building up a solid foundation of truth.
 |
| Old photo of me looking in a rearview mirror. |
Some Christians live that way. Even though they are saved and completely forgiven they live and define themselves by their past and simply can't let it go. I used to be one of them. This past year God has worked with me to help me deal with the past and direct my focus to what's up ahead. Finally my life has a resemblance of order and I'm actually moving forward.I am not defined by who I used to be and I am not held to my past failures to succeed or follow through.
Today is a new day, the first one of a brand new year but I'm not really looking for a brand new slate. I don't want to start over I just want to keep going. I want to keep doing what I've been doing all year and build onto the foundation I've already begun to lay down. I want to focus on my celebrations and the challenges I've overcome with joy and determination to continue living life as an overcomer. I want to keep running the race I've already started.
I guess if I had to make a resolution that would be it. I resolve to keep running the race.
--------------------
Most people never run far enough on their first wind to find out that they have a second.
-William James.
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