Coming into the new year, everyone reflects on their past. They think on what they can change, how they can pursue their dreams, ridding themselves of old habits, and renewing themselves for a fresh start.
Resolutions are a one-word way of saying ‘I am determined to change for the better’. I love how, despite how often people tend to forget their resolutions by the second week of January, everyone is still willing to make them in the first place. That shows determination and an ability to work on those things.
There is so much strength and wisdom in making resolutions because you are not only proving to yourself that you can do better and you are willing to, but to those around you and to God. It is accountability; telling ourselves about a habit that we obtain but are willing to change.
Change
Change can seem like the largest boulder on our path, blocking all that we hope to gain, but it all comes down to the way we look at it. We can choose to be frightened by it, or to conquer it and allow God to use the challenge to bless and inspire us to do more.
If I stood in a puddle of concrete and thought to myself ‘if I step out of this, my feet will get cold’, what evidently happens with concrete is, the longer it stays there makes it even more difficult to step out of. Why would I do this to myself and refuse change? Now no one is going to purposely step in a puddle of concrete because they want to. But the idea of refusing to change shows the difficulty that grows with every refusal.
Challenges
It is easy to give up on our strength, especially when facing a challenge. God is constantly challenging us through our relationships with others, our jobs, our family and home lives, even things we notice we could do better in for ourselves. God is always strengthening us and guiding us to the bigger and better things he has planned.
Isaiah chapter 43, verse 19 says ‘See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.’
There have been many times in my life where I have been through the ‘wilderness’, where my hope and perseverance has strayed from where it should have been. But no matter how hard those things seem to be, I always feel so empowered when I go through and come out of it stronger than before.
The unexpected
It is always unexpected when things end, especially if they seemed to be working out perfectly at the start. Whether it be a relationship that has ended, a job that has not worked out, an opportunity that has fizzled even though it seemed to line up perfectly to what you had in mind. Our version of perfection, or the peak of greatness, is often not what God has in mind for us.
What we may want so desperately, God will sometimes come through and give us what we ask for to calm that want or yearning. Then in our minds when we realise we actually need something more than that, this is the moment God comes through to teach us something.
These difficult times of change can be perceived as a learning curve or training ground for something better to come. Even if you have travelled the road in constant prayer, received exactly what you had prayed for, and then come to realise what you wanted and what you needed are two completely different things, God is so gracious to us. He will find a way to use this experience to better our future. It is these moments where we are strengthened in him.
Submit to Him
Waiting can be hard, constant prayer can become tiring, hope can start dimming, and change in circumstances can overwhelm us. But God wants us to turn to him in complete and utter submission and give our prayers, our situations, our yearnings and desires, our worries and concerns over to him.
Even when everything changes, even when our resolutions become a fun little ‘New Year’s’ tradition, even when we start the year off well but then question where it started to go wrong a few months later, let it be a reminder to you that God is never changing. Hebrews chapter 13, verse 8 says ‘Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.’
Don’t forget, although our plans may change, the seemingly good things in our lives may end, and our resolutions don’t work out, God wants more for us. He wants to strengthen us for better things ahead. If you can make it through the hard times now, imagine what you can get through later on.
If we are willing to dream big with God and allow him to strengthen us through the tough times, he will be willing to help us see a more hopeful future in him, rest assured.
James chapter 1, verse 17 says ‘Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.’
Cartia Moore is a sword fighter, trained and skilled in the art of fencing. She is currently studying a Bachelor of Arts, majoring in Screen & Media Studies, and minoring in Drama and Creative Writing. Her focus is film, television and swordfighting sequences. She is a youth leader, and has a passion for bringing young girls to God and helping them to seek and find their worth and value in Him.
Cartia Moore’s previous articles may be viewed at http://www.pressserviceinternational.org/cartia-moore.html