A Fresh Start for the New Year

By Anonymous -
I love New Years… The fresh start… the new beginning… even hanging up that fresh new calendar that has yet to be filled with a year’s worth of life events! I’m not so much of a resolution maker as I am a goal setter, but I love looking out into a brand-new year, thinking about all the things I’ll do different or accomplish this year.


The first week or so of each new year are always great. I eat more fruits and vegetables. I get more activity in my day. I cut back on the sugar. But I set other goals too. Goals like be a better wife, spend more quality time with my kids, be kind in all situations, get in God’s word more, you know, in general just to live a life that brings glory to my Heavenly Father. I do great for the first week or two, but as the “newness” of the new year turns into just another week of winter, I find myself being busy doing everything but the goals I set… Snapping at the hubby because I’m trying to cook dinner and he came home late, doing laundry over coloring with the kids, staying up on the computer to the point it means not getting up before everyone else to do any of the other things I was so committed to do on the first of January… and it’s only the 15th!


And 2018 is no different… I started this year with the same excitement I start every new year with… followed promptly by the letdown of not magically accomplishing all the goals I set just a few weeks ago. Then I got my daily email devotion and God spoke directly to my heart as only His Word can.


Isaiah 43: 18-19 says “Do not call to mind the former things, or ponder things of the past. Behold, I will do something new, now it will spring forth; Will you not be aware of it? I will even make a roadway in the wilderness, rivers in the desert.”
I love this! God is telling up to not focus on the past, which is a relief, we don’t have to dwell on those past failures, whether years ago, or just those of the last 15 days. It doesn’t matter that the goals I set have slide into the back ground, I don’t have to beat myself up over the not-so-kind thing I said last week or the lack of quite times I’ve have in God’s word recently. In fact, God specifically says not to!


But the next part of this verse is what really spoke to me when I read it… “Behold, I will do something new”. God doesn’t tell us to forget about out past failures and try again on our own… Instead, He tells us to forget about our shortcomings and watch what HE WILL DO! God promises that “it WILL spring forth.” Not that it might, or maybe it will happen, but something new will happen! He even goes so far as to challenge us by asking “Will you not be aware of it?” basically, “Hey kid, are you paying attention here… I got this!"
And just to be sure we get the point, God goes on to give a few details on just what a capable God He is, “I will even make a roadway in the wilderness, rivers in the desert.”


Why am I waiting for a new year to get excited about a fresh start?!? Our gracious Heavenly Father is always there, calling us back to Him and a fresh start down the path He talks about in Jeremiah 29:11.

Written by: Elizabeth Kroner

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