Everybody loves a new year. A new year bring new optimism, new hope, & new dreams. Its a time for new goals, new plans, & oh those unavoidable resolutions. Everybody has them, "this year I'm going to lose weight", "this year I'm going to exercise", or "this year I'm going to be a nicer person." See the cool thing about a new year is that if we don't succeed in our resolutions this year, there's always a chance to make the same resolution next year.
I've never been really big on resolutions, mainly because I'm not very good at them. So this year I've resolved to keep my resolutions private. I figured it be a good way not to be held accountable to anyone who knows about them. Hey, if I put it out there that I plan on changing my eating habits in January, I'll really look bad when I'm scarfing a bacon cheeseburger in February. Also, who doesn't like the element of surprise? If I keep to it on the DL (that's down low for you old timers), I might surprise my wife with a smaller size or two in my waistline. I know, I know, sounds far fetched, but we can dream can't we, hey its new years.
Another thing about a new year is that its a great time to take spiritual inventory. It's a time to examine where we are in our relationship with God and what steps we need to take to improve it. You hear a lot of declarations around this time. Many people saying "this is my year", or "I'm expecting an even greater 2014". Optimism and hope are a good thing, if more people grabbed a hold of them we would see a lot more smiles in the day, and maybe less rage on the roads (that would be good for all of us). But one thing to keep in mind as believers is that a pain free year is not a given, and it is not a promise. In fact when we examine the scriptures the promise is the opposite. In John 16:33 Jesus said "I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the
world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the
world.” We know we will have tribulation, the question is not if, but when?
In July of 2012 my wife unexpectedly lost her mom to cancer. She was only 55 years old. The hardest part was the unexpected way her death unfolded. We went in to 2012 with full optimism like anyone else. Our babies were healthy, our marriage was good, and our family was close. Grandma was who took care of our babies during the day while me and my wife went to work. In May of that year we celebrated my daughters one year birthday at the park. Grandma was present and we had no knowledge of the cancer. Two and a half months later she passed away. It was a painful couple of months for my wife and family. They watched their mother suffer through extreme pain knowing the end was near. Nothing could have prepared us for what we experienced in 2012. We relied on the strength of Christ and the comfort of the Holy Spirit. I guess if anything could help prepare you for something like that is the previous trials and tribulations. Me and my wife had suffered multiple loss through miscarriages, even burying one of our children, we had been through financial disaster, and we had experienced disappointment. Through it all we had to have a high view of a sovereign God. As believers we trust that our lives are not are own and that they are in the hands of our creator. We have to speak like Job "should we only accept the good from God and not the trouble?" (Job 2:10)
I share the hardships of our 2012 to say this. In all honesty 2014 might be the hardest year for some of you. This might be a year when everything comes crashing down. A year when your greatest fears come to reality.
There might be loss, there might be disappointment. As believers in Christ this is something we have to endure. Paul told Timothy "Share in suffering as a good soldier in Christ Jesus". If there is a sobering fact, it is that sufferings are not something we are going to avoid, but something we will have to endure. How is that sobering? It is sobering because we are not surprised, or caught off guard when it does come. It is also sobering to know that as a believer there are other promises of scripture to hold on to during those sufferings. 1 Peter 5:10 says "And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you." Now that is sobering. Through my suffering I have been given a promise that one day God will restore, He will confirm, He will strengthen, and He will establish.
So what will this year bring for me? It may bring prosperity or it may bring poverty. It may bring abundance or it may bring lack. It may bring laughter or it may bring tears. It may bring life or it may bring death. If it is the later of any of these, oh that I might have the strength like Job to say “Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” Job 1:21.
I am not saying to live everyday in anxiety or in fear of some unexpected bad news. We are not called to live that way. Jesus tells us in Matthew 6:34 “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble." Is it God's will that I suffer this year? "Will this be a tough year for me?" We don't know, in all honesty it might be a great year for you. "But how can I prepare for the worse?" "What does God want me to do?" He wants you to rejoice! Yes, that's what He wants you to do, rejoice. We are not commanded in scripture to worry, we are not even commanded to ask God to reveal His hidden will. What we are commanded to do, time and again, is to rejoice. Rejoice in your salvation (Psalms 13:5), if you are a believer, rejoice that your name has been written in the book of Life (Luke 10:20). Many people like to ask the question, what is God's will for me this year? I believe He tells us in His word what His will for us is. And the answer is the same every year, its found in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you".
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