Starting Over
Even though January 1 is really simply another day like any other, the change from one year to the next is a milestone in our lives. It gives us an opportunity to start over. Typically, starting over takes the form of setting New Year’s resolutions and goals. We resolve to reach a goal at some point in the year ahead of us.
For many of us, these goals are very similar to the goals of last year because we failed to achieve them, so we decide to start over. One of the main reasons we are less than successful in our “do-overs” is that we do not sufficiently seek or utilize God’s wisdom and power to help us achieve our goal. Here’s how:
1. We must first seek and apply God’s wisdom in setting our goals and then developing the action plan to reach them. James 1:5-8 says, “If you need wisdom—if you want to know what God wants you to do—ask him, and he will gladly tell you. He will not resent your asking. But when you ask him, be sure that you really expect him to answer, for a doubtful mind is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. People like that should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. They can't make up their minds. They waver back and forth in everything they do.”
2. Secondly, we must ask for and then apply God’s strength to accomplish the things He tells us to do in order to accomplish the goal we have set with His wisdom. In his letter to the Christ followers in Philippi, Paul gives us an example of doing this. “I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. For I can do everything with the help of Christ who gives me the strength I need.” Philippians 4:12-13.
3. We often need resources to help us achieve our goals. After we have sought God’s wisdom in setting our goal and the plan to reach it, and after we have asked for God’s power to implement the plan, we may also need to ask God to provide what we need. Later in that same letter to the Philippians, Paul thanks them for helping to supply his needs and encourages them by telling them, “And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:19.
Be careful not to fall into the trap of setting your own goals and then asking God to bless them. If you have not consulted God before you set them or have not been remaining faithful to Him, it is presumptuous to ask His blessing. Again, this is an area where James gives us some good advice:
“Look here, you people who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we are going to a certain town and will stay there a year. We will do business there and make a profit.’ How do you know what will happen tomorrow? For your life is like the morning fog—it's here a little while, then it's gone. What you ought to say is, ‘If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that.’ Otherwise you will be boasting about your own plans, and all such boasting is evil.” James 4:13-16.
If you charged ahead of God and have already made some resolutions or set some goals, bring them humbly before Him and ask if He agrees with them, and give Him the permission to change them if He sees fit. Then ask His help to remain faithful to Him in worship, serving, prayer, and studying His Word. Remember “But don’t just to listen to God’s Word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves.” James 1:22. May God bless you as you work to accomplish His goals for you.
Your fellow traveler following Christ,
Pastor Tim
