January Devotional - New Year, New Hope
1 January 2007
My times are in your hands.
Psalm 31:15 NIV
People automatically associate the New Year with New Year resolutions which are often broken very quickly. The favourite resolution seems to be either losing weight or getting fitter. On New Year’s Eve, there is always an endless stream of TV programmes reviewing the year, so I decided to do my own evaluation of this past year. I divided a page of my journal into two columns with the headings highs and lows. As 2006 has been a mixed year for me, I thought that my accident and current physical incapacity might dominate and that very few highs would emerge. The reverse was true. The list of highs was three times longer than the list of lows, and many of the lows had given rise to unexpected blessings!
I also became aware that God is bringing about further transformation in me. I’m still a work in progress, but God does not want me to stand still and will use anything He has to in order to move me out of my comfort zone and into His purposes. According to RT Kendall (my favourite Bible teacher), when He does so, the anointing increases.
As I prayerfully continued to evaluate my highs and lows of the past year, the two columns seemed to merge and become the highlights of 2006 and I was able to thank God for the good and the bad, because I was now seeing the year through his eyes rather than my own. What a difference in perspective!
- Try reviewing 2006 listing your highs and lows in 2 columns. Don’t think about this too much. Simply write down the first things that come to mind. Is there any connection between the 2 columns? Where can you see God’s transforming power at work?
- What is your prayer for 2007?
- Now ask God what His desire is for you in 2007?
Prayer:
Lord, thank you for the gift of this New Year. Help me to live it in submission to you and according to your priorities rather than my own. Amen
(Adapted from my book Into God’s Presence.)
