A compilation
The opening lines of A Tale of Two Cities have given the literary world one of the greatest precursory statements of all time. “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair...” These famous words of Charles Dickens mark some of the best-known lines of literature, skillfully reflecting the novel’s central tension between opposing pairs and the ebbs and flows of an era.
In this season of the New Year we, too, are inclined to reflect, to look back and look forward with thoughts and words that help us sift through the stories unfolding before us… That we have before us the month that marks another beginning of another year is unavoidable, even if merely seen as time to buy a new calendar or join another health club.
Armed with resolutions and lofty goals, and perhaps a self-help book or two, many stare into the 365 days ahead of us with hope and expectation, sometimes with fear, sometimes with determination, other times with excitement. And we look at the days behind us with a careful eye for what is past, at times with nostalgia for all that has gone by, or heaviness for all we longed to see turn out differently, but hopefully with wisdom to carry into days to come. What were the year’s successes and failures? What will I accomplish this year? Where have I been? How far have we come along?
But the New Year is also a time to ask perhaps with a greater sense of existential angst, “Where am I going?” Or maybe even “Where did we come from?” In the pages of one major newspaper on New Year’s Day were articles discussing several up-and-coming self-improvement, self-discovery books for the New Year. In between advice for learning to embrace your life fully and tips for rehabilitating your sense of style, the author herself noted the inconsistency of the well-marketed, self-help world of reflecting. “If all these books are out there,” she asked, the question remains: “Why aren’t we well?” Such are the inquiries worthy of the season.
There are some celebrations of Christmas that remind us in color and in lights that the birth of Christ has ushered in a new era. Such celebrations would also encourage that we not miss this occasion for reflection. Because for the Christian, that God has come near changed—and continues to change—everything.
Whether looking back or looking forward, … the presence of a loving God is both help and hope.—Jill Carattini1
Got potential?
As you come to the end of one year and prepare to enter into a new one, you may be asking yourself what you can realistically expect to be or accomplish in the years to come. That depends in part on how you define “realistic.” Nobody knows what we’re capable of better than God, and often His definition of “realistic” is “potential.” He knows our limits—“He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust”2—but He also sees our hearts and continually looks at us from the viewpoint of what we can become.
God expects us to do what we can, but He doesn’t expect us to be perfect. He knows we’ll never be perfect, and if we’re smart, we’ll realize that it’s foolish for us to try or pretend to be. We have to do our part, but our part isn’t to be perfect—and that’s the beauty of God’s plan!
Once we receive Jesus as our Savior, He lives in us. And if we will remember that we’re weak and imperfect without Him,3 He can come through and be our everything. “We have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.”4
God loves to do amazing, extraordinary things, sometimes through some of the most unlikely, imperfect people. It’s never about how good or strong we are. It’s about God and His goodness and power.
God knows that no matter what has happened in the past or what our current situation or shortcomings or challenges may be, we can change; He can make us better. We need to learn to see ourselves through the perspective of what we can become by His grace and what God’s power can transform us into.
So what if you aren’t perfect?! Who is? If you let the Spirit of God work in you and through you, His Spirit will fill in the gaps of the little problems and imperfections. God doesn’t need perfection from us to work His will and wonders.
Make room for God to work by not focusing on your shortcomings and imperfections, but rather by looking to Him to help you reach the full potential of who and what He created you to be.—Peter Amsterdam
Teach us to number our days
For many, New Year’s is just another holiday. For others, it’s a time of deep reflection, both on the past year and on the one ahead. For followers of Jesus, New Year’s has no unique significance. There’s no central biblical narrative informing our celebrations.
But this doesn’t mean Christians shouldn’t pause and reflect on the turning of the calendar. Moses asked of the Lord, “Teach us to number our days, so we may get a heart of wisdom.”5 Time—seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, years—is a gift to us from a good God. To wisely follow him, then, is to redeem our time.6
New Year’s can also remind us of the new birth. In a sense, each day with Jesus is a chance to turn the page on an old way of life and embrace a new one. We are, after all, new creation people, and we serve a King who renews us daily by the Holy Spirit.
Setting goals for a new year are an important sign that we’re intentional about glorifying God in our callings—work and business, home and church, private and public witness. When we work and plan, even in seemingly insignificant endeavors, we’re fulfilling the cultural mandate.7 In this age, we’re blessed with an abundance of resources to help us to maximize our time: digital tools, productivity experts, and inspirational blogs.
But before we write out our goals, we should begin in the heart. The temptation for Christians is to make our plans and add a dollop of Jesus on top, rather than allowing him to form in us the desires and motivations to do his work…
The wise man of Ecclesiastes said, “Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years draw near of which you will say, ‘I have no pleasure in them.’”8 In January, the year is young and the opportunities seem fresh. So many productivity gurus preach a gospel of self-empowerment, but as gospel people, we know the fragility of human life. We know every breath is a miracle, a gift given to us by our Creator…
We may have failed to meet our heady goals in [the past year]. Jesus still loves us, despite our failures, unchecked boxes, and disappointment at the scale. The gospel tells us that he loves us in the midst of these.
So as we make our plans for [the new year], let’s remember that even in our failures, we serve the One who remembers our frame and knows we are dust.9 We make plans, but we hold them lightly. We entrust our future, not to Evernote or Google Calendar or a reading list, but to the King who holds the world in his hands.—Daniel Darling10
Published on Anchor December 2019.
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