Readings for today: Zechariah 10-11, Revelation 18, Psalms 146, Proverbs 30:33
What are your resolutions for the coming year? The promises you are making yourself? Is it to eat better? Exercise more regularly? Is it to stop drinking? Stop smoking? Conquer some other addiction in your life? Is it to dream bigger? Start a new business? Launch out on a new career? Is it to try something new? Learn something you never thought you could? Is it to make more time for those you love? Slow down? Simplify?
Studies show four out of five people end up breaking their resolutions. Fully one-third barely make it past the first month. Why? Because we are often trying to accomplish these goals through sheer will-power alone. We try to make these changes without help. Without accountability. Without relying on anyone’s strength but our own.
Listen to the wisdom of the Psalmist. “Don’t put your confidence in powerful people (including yourself!); there is no help for you there. When they breathe their last, they return to the earth, and all their plans die with them. But joyful are those who have the God of Israel as their helper, whose hope is in the Lord their God.“ (Psalms 146:3-5) God alone can give you the strength to change. In fact, if you have accepted Christ, His promise is that He will send His Spirit to dwell inside you. To initiate and accomplish His sanctifying work. He will make you more like Jesus! He will transform you from the inside out! He who began this good work in you will bring it completion!
What’s our role in all this? Simply to surrender. To present ourselves before God day after day and ask Him to have His way with us. We open our hands and hearts to His love and grace. We intentionally seek to pattern our lives after His life. And what does His life look like? Again, hear the wisdom of the Psalmist. “He made heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them. He keeps every promise forever. He gives justice to the oppressed and food to the hungry. The Lord frees the prisoners. The Lord opens the eyes of the blind. The Lord lifts up those who are weighed down. The Lord loves the godly. The Lord protects the foreigners among us. He cares for the orphans and widows, but he frustrates the plans of the wicked.” (Psalms 146:6-9)
Today in my devotional reading, I ran across this great quote from 20th century Christian missionary and statesman, Frank Laubach… “If anybody were to ask me how to find God I should say at once, hunt out the deepest need you can find and forget all about your own comfort while you try to meet that need. Talk to God about it and He will meet you there. You will know it.” I believe this with all my heart because I have seen and experienced it with my own eyes. When I have gotten engaged in God’s mission in the world, I have found Him waiting for me there. My faith grows. My heart breaks. My eyes fill with tears. And I realize God is changing me. Giving me His heart of compassion. His heart of love. His heart of mercy. And I am overwhelmed with deep thankfulness. This thankfulness spills over into my everyday life. I become a better husband and father. A wiser pastor. A more faithful friend.
If you are wondering what you can do in the coming year to “make God your helper”, let me encourage the following four spiritual practices…
1) Spend time with God every day. Intentionally place yourself before Him and ask God to help you look at your life and the world around you through His eyes.
2) Gather with a local church family in corporate worship each week. Put it on your schedule right now. Before all the activities and opportunities begin to crowd God out. God promises to meet His people wherever two or three or more are gathered in His name.
3) Find a small group of friends to intentionally pursue Jesus with. Pursue relationships of authenticity and transparency and accountability. Deep spiritual friendships don’t happen by accident. They require intentionality and sacrifice.
4) Find a place to serve. Inside the church. Outside the church. Both. Find a way to get involved in God’s mission to reach the lost and to teach others all He has commanded us as believers. We were created to carry God’s image to the ends of the earth. Get in touch with why you were made.
Don’t try to do 2020 on your own! Don’t fall for the lie that somehow you are strong enough or bold enough or talented enough or stubborn enough. Surrender to the Lord and He will become your helper. He will be your strength and your courage. He will lift you up and carry you though!
Readings for tomorrow: Zechariah 12-13, Revelation 19, Psalms 147, Proverbs 31:1-7