So.... How's Your New Year Going so Far?
Standing at the beginning of a new year, only one week in, can feel a bit daunting.
Those resolutions we made have lost a little bit of their shine. All the Christmas decorations have been put away, vacation time has ended for parents and kids, the weather is drab, and the hope and excitement that we might have experienced and anticipated about a “fresh start” for 2024 may be starting to wane.
Stepping Forward in Faith
Before a new year starts, and even in the first few days of it, we have excitement for what is in store – for the new challenges and adventures that will come our way, for the goals that are before us.
A little further in, however, the uncertainty of the unknown starts to creep in, we’re reminded of past failures and regrets, and we begin to question our ambition in setting some of those goals and projects back in December.
What were we thinking when we decided to run half a marathon this year, or to give up chocolate??
How do we move forward? How do we step into a new year with faith? One way is to look ahead to what God is doing, instead of dwelling on the past.
How Do We Step Forward in Faith?
By Looking Ahead to What God is Doing.
Where are you living?
Isaiah 43:19 reminds us that living in the past keeps us from moving forward into God’s purposes.
It’s important for us to remember who God is and how God has moved in our lives, but we can’t stay there.
Memory serves its purpose and is an important part of faith and discipleship, but it is just a part. The active nature of faith can be seen in God’s self-designation in the Old Testament: Yahweh (YHWH).
God repeatedly identifies himself in the Bible as the “I am.”
The Center for Hebraic Thought explains that this self-designation is not a statement of existence, but rather an expression of active being.
In the name Yahweh, God makes himself known as a *present* being.
God’s plan is and was already in action for the Israelites in this passage, even though they couldn’t see it with human eyes. He had not abandoned his people.
Even in the exile, he was present with them, and he would bring them home once more.
Even better, in the right time he would provide the promised deliverer, the Messiah.
All they needed to do was let go
and look ahead.
Can you see through the eyes of faith?
What do you need to see through the eyes of faith today?
What trial or circumstance weighs your spirit down so you can’t see what God is doing through that situation?
By seeing the world through the eyes of faith – opening ourselves to the ways in which God is creating and confirming the “now and not yet” of the kingdom of God, we are able to refocus on what is really important.
As Old Testament scholar John Goldingay observes, throughout the book of Isaiah, visions of hope are juxtaposed with descriptions of the realities faced by the prophets and the people.
Imagining a world beyond the current reality – “perceiving” what God is goig to do – is based on a deeply held conviction that God is able to transform a life filled with selfishness and self-interest into a world where people live according to God’s will and follow God’s word.
This is the hope we await in the “not-yet” of God’s kingdom.
Letting Go to Look Ahead
Moving forward into a new year in faith requires remembering who God is and what God’s done,
but it also requires letting go –
so that we can open our hands to what God will do next.
The apostle Paul puts it this way in his letter to the church at Philippi: “Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:13b-14, NIV)
As we let go, we place the past in its proper perspective so we can look ahead, aligning our eyes to see through the lens of faith. Then we are able to recognize God’s provision, proclaiming his good works to those around us.
Looking ahead to see God's Grace
As we enter into this new year, some of us will enter new seasons in our lives.
Some of those seasons will be exciting, and some will be challenging.
Some of us will remain in the seasons we are in.
Some of us are in the wilderness, and others are on mountaintops, looking back at how far they’ve come.
In the midst of all these seasons, there are moments of grace to look forward to. As we rely on God’s faithfulness to see us through each situation that comes our way, we can face the new year with hope and confidence that God is doing new things in our lives, even if we can’t see what they are yet.
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How are you looking ahead to see God move in your life this year?
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