January 1. A new year. A new day. I have to admit it….I love January 1. I love breaking out a new Bible and a new calendar and a new planner. I love all those clean pages, just waiting to be filled. To me, January 1 is like when a fresh snow arrives overnight. Can you picture it? Waking up to a blanket of the whitest white, a wholly pristine beauty unmarred by any external force. That is January 1…
This year, in the days and weeks leading up to January 1, I have spent a lot of time seeking God, seeking His direction for 2024. I’ve been nagging Him with questions: “What should I focus on this year?”, “What should my theme word be?”, “What do You want from me?” I have bombarded God with my continual requests to KNOW Him more, to SEE Him, to HEAR Him. I have walked and talked with God almost daily, covering literally hundreds of miles of actual terrain, much of it in the rain. I have wrestled with God. After all of my walking and all of my talking, I almost feel like Jacob must have felt after he wrestled with God and God dislocated his hip (Genesis 32: 24-25). My body kind of hurts, in a good way. And my soul feels light.
I love how that sequence with Jacob and God plays out. After the two have wrestled all night, Jacob tells God that he will not let go “unless You bless me!” (Genesis 32:26). God does bless Jacob, changing his name and his destiny. Jacob, now Israel, then changes the name of the place where the wrestling match occurred, calling it Peniel, which means “I have seen God face to face , and my life is preserved” (Genesis 32:30). He just walks with a limp. I, on the other hand, have not seen God face to face, but I have cried out for His blessing. And, through God, my life is preserved.
So, after all of that walking and all of that talking, after all of that contemplating of NEW, God has brought a few things to my remembrance. First, God reminded me of what He has done, both in me and for me. God says in Ezekiel, “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh” (36:26). I am so thankful for this! God has given me a new heart! He has put a new spirit, His Spirit, in me! What a glorious truth today! Second, God reminded me that He is doing a new thing- in me, in the world, in 2024. He told Isaiah, “Behold, I will do a new thing, now it shall spring forth; Shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert” (Isaiah 43:19). To be completely honest, I’m not always sure what that new thing is, but I trust Him…and I trust His word. I can’t begin to tell you the times I’ve needed that road in the wilderness, that river in the desert. What I can tell you is that God was always there, always doing His thing, always doing the best thing. And He always will be. And for this I am so thankful also. Has He always done things my way? The answer to that would be a resounding NO. In fact, I would have to say that He seldom does things my way. But I have learned to accept that His way will always be better.
As I mentioned earlier, I’ve wrestled with God for weeks as this new year has approached. Through it all, I’ve sensed God’s leading, His hand, His direction. I’ve sensed His presence. Above all things, I am so thankful for God’s presence- because where would I be without His presence? I can honestly say that I would be lost, utterly and completely lost. That’s why I can comfortably and truthfully repeat Moses’s words to God after God told him to gather the people and leave Mount Sinai. The Lord told Moses, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” Moses’s response? “If Your Presence does not go with us, do not bring us up from here” (Exodus 33:14-15). That’s my heart too. If the Lord’s presence doesn’t go with me, I am not moving from this spot. But as I start this new year, I know He’s with me. I have a vision of where He’s taking me…and what He’s asking me to build. All the Lord is asking is that I begin. January 1 might be a small beginning, but in the words of Zechariah, “Do not despise these small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin” (Zechariah 4:10). So let the work begin!
Happy New Year!