A brand new year in front of us, likely filled with brand new goals and earnest resolutions. Then a not-so-brand-new failure to hold true to our best intentions. That’s when Satan loves to step in and accuse, “You couldn’t even last a week, and you call yourself faithful—ha!”
We can recall the Septembers of a brand new school year, full of hope and promise. The crisp new paper, the sharpened pencils, along with sharpened minds that are ready for a fresh beginning with a clean slate. We promise ourselves rapt attention to classes and note-taking, homework and projects. This year, we refuse to procrastinate with our assignments! But somehow things begin to slip away, and we resign ourselves to the fact that we will never have the self-discipline we seek.
How many times have we promised ourselves we will do more and be more and finally get our life and house and office organized! That we will write that note, make that call, study our Bible and visit the infirmed. But time always seems to get away from us and we wind up (wrongly) creating a negative internal view of ourselves.
The Father of Lies celebrates these opportunities of creating doubt and despondency in our minds. He wants to distract and destroy, to foil and to spoil our plans. He wants us to give up on ourselves and to give up on God. But the Father who loves us understands the desires of our hearts, our best intentions, and the difficulty in sometimes accomplishing all that we have set out to do. He wants us, who are weary, to come to Him for rest and refreshment. He knows what is most important is the time spent with Him for encouragement and peace and strength in the midst of an often demanding and overwhelming schedule.
We really can let go, letting all the “stuff of life” that crowds our thoughts and actions simply melt away like the warmth of the sun on the snow of a cold winter’s day. We can know that even our smallest efforts reap mighty rewards—step by step, day by day. Knowing that Rome wasn’t built in a day, we should not be putting excessive expectations on ourselves that are likely to end up failing us. Unrealistic goals can overwhelm us, leading us to throw up our hands in frustration at the impossible task we have set before us.
Slow and steady wins the race. It allows us to look at our small, daily, bite-sized accomplishments within the context of their cumulative effect. One accomplishment builds upon the next one and then the next one and so on, until we look back and think, “WOW! I can’t believe how far I’ve come!”
Think of all the tiny (and unique!) snowflakes it takes to accumulate even one inch of snow. It happens slowly, with repetition. This is how we grow, not in leaps and bounds, but in incremental steps. This is also how we savor our small and humble moments of victory. It keeps us in the present, yet spawns our forward reach. It brings us encouragement rather than a spirit of defeat and because of this, like the stillness of a snowfall, there is a quiet place of gratitude that rests within our heart.
I wish for you joy and noel for the coming of these brand new days. May a sense of expectation take up permanent residence in your heart as the light of the Christ-child turned King greets you daily and excitedly awaits your response.
Allow the words of this hymn to warm your weary bones as you embrace the Lord your God in the New Year…
A wonderful Savior is Jesus my Lord,
A wonderful Savior to me;
He hideth my soul in the cleft of the rock,
Where rivers of pleasure I see.
Refrain:
He hideth my soul in the cleft of the rock,
That shadows a dry, thirsty land;
He hideth my life in the depths of His love,
And covers me there with His hand,
And covers me there with His hand.
A wonderful Savior is Jesus my Lord,
He taketh my burden away,
He holdeth me up and I shall not be moved,
He giveth me strength as my day.
With numberless blessings each moment He crowns,
And filled with His fullness divine,
I sing in my rapture, oh, glory to God!
For such a Redeemer as mine.
When clothed with His brightness transported I rise
To meet Him in clouds of the sky,
His perfect salvation, His wonderful love,
I’ll shout with the millions on high.
—Frances J Crosby
Happy New Year Family of God!