We will now spend this week watching TV recaps of 2012 and hearing about New Year Resolutions. Shows and commentators will play out the best of this, worst of that, the most memorable moments of celebrities, politics, sports and more. But for each of us personally, it will be a time to reboot our lives. A chance to reflect on what we would like to change for the New Year, and to find the resolve to make those dreams come true.
If you’re anything like me, letting go of the past and moving forward can be tough. As much as I would like to think I do it without much effort, at times I struggle. I have a really good memory. Especially if things have not worked out the way I thought they should, or if someone has done me wrong, or been unkind. I am not proud of that characteristic, but I would be lying to you if I did not admit that part of my humanity. Sometimes, things for me just die hard. But I am working on it. And I think I am making improvements!
Maybe for you the new year holds a new normal or a life transition or change. Perhaps it is the reality of letting go of something near and very dear to your heart. Maybe it’s something that simply needs to go away from your world as you know it.
Think of it this way. There are certain things in life that we just cannot understand and other things that we will not be able change. Like a spouse who has left, or a child who has died unexpectedly, or perhaps a disease that refuses to be cured. At those times, it’s best to stop trying so hard to fix things or figure them out, and just let things be.
Maybe you were hoping for a situation to be resolved or a prayer request to be answered before midnight on December 31 — but the solution or the answer has not yet come. You fear that the chimes from the clock tower will ring then come and go like the fireworks. And as you seek your resolution, once the smoke clears, you will find yourself, alone, left in the fog to carry on in 2013. Maybe, privately, you question God.
Thank goodness God does not answer our prayers because we have been good little boys and girls. It would be a terrible shame if He worked off of a naughty or nice list. If He did, it wouldn’t be grace at work. And His sacrifice for us at the cross would have been in vain.
God works in His time. In His way. And, fortunately, in His wisdom. He doesn’t decide if I am worthy or not of the requests and prayers I make. Best of all, He doesn’t hang on to my past either. He lets it go. I am so grateful that God truly moves on even if I can’t.
If you’re feeling that God is so far out of reach or that the angelic operators have placed your calls on eternal hold, I pray that you will look to the heavens with palms up and say, “O.K. I don’t get it, but since you are everywhere and can see everything…though this is not clear to me, I choose to believe that 1) You know what is going to happen in this situation and, 2) that You, and You alone, can handle this and take care of me.”
Let’s commit to remember together that He is not only the Lord of the past, He is the Lord of the present and the future. Our future. And with that, let’s reboot our mindset, reflect on positive adjustments that can be made, and then, resolve to make this the best year…ever.
Hugs and Happy New Year.
Stephanie
Phillipians 3:13
