“‘Listen to me, all you men of Israel! Do not be afraid as you go out to fight your enemies today! Do not lose heart or panic or tremble before them. For the Lord your God is going with you! He will fight for you against your enemies, and he will give you victory!’” (Deuteronomy 20:3-4 NLT)
Okay. It is January 1, 2011. It is New Year’s Day. It is the day we all look back and say, Thank goodness it’s done and gone and we can forget it.” But what is done, gone and being forgotten? It is a span of time. There were 365 days; 8,760 hours; 525,600 minutes; and 31,536,000 seconds. They are gone, spent and we cannot get them back to do over again. This means the good and the bad. We want to relive the high points but forget the mistakes, mess-ups, and the times we were less than what we should have been. What did we do with the time? Was it so terrible that we want to stop the calendar from turning to 2011? Or did we see miraculous things happen to give us hope for a future?
I am here to tell you that God was with us in the best of times and God was right there with us in the worst of times. God is still in control and God is still the God that created the universe and named the stars. Jesus is still Savior and is still living at the right hand of God in heaven.
So what has changed? God has not moved or changed His address. Not Jesus: “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” (Hebrews 13:8 NLT)
We have changed. We made promises at the beginning of 2010 which were meant for self-improvement. Most of them were broken by January 2, 2010. We gave up. When we give up it invites more hardship. Some had successes. They became more than what they were in 2009. They overcame the hardship and frustrations. Now it’s not “what changed,” but “what’s the difference?”
A lot of negative emotions accompany hardship: frustration, feelings of hopelessness, fear, and doubt. People ruled by those feelings often make poor choices. This is why God’s Word says that we are to decide right now to respond to troubled times the way the Israelites did: with praise. Even in the darkest hours, worshipping God fills the heart with joy and the mind with peace. A believer who is filled in this way can wisely keep a commitment to obey the Lord no matter what.
But wait, Pastor, You said, “OBEY the LORD no matter what.” Yes, that’s right. I said it and I said it because it’s the truth.
Worshipping the Lord enlarges our vision. By doing so, we begin to see how He is at work in the world, perhaps in ways and places we never noticed before. More particularly, we see what God is doing in our situation and notice areas where He requires our obedience.
Our human tendency is to plot a course through a situation toward the easiest solution. But believers who strike out on their own do not mature in faith. Moreover, they miss out on the blessings of following the Lord's plan. Stopping to praise can divert us from the easy way out and direct us to the right path—namely, the way of God's will. Taking a step forward in obedience and faith can be frightening. However, believers are completely safe risking their whole future on the Lord's faithfulness. He has never disappointed anyone!
It's hard to feel hopeless while honoring the Lord for His love and strength. We can dispel doubt by recalling His past faithfulness—and ease frustration by committing our future plans to Him. Praise is not the obvious reaction to hardship, but it is the wisest response.
So, here it is 2011. Are we going to make more empty promises to ourselves? And then become frustrated when we fail? Or do we step out in faith and obedience to what God has planned, let Him take over control, and then actually let God work out the details of how to work HIS plan in our life instead of us trying to figure out how we can to work God’s plan into our life.
It comes down to a statement people sometimes have backwards. People say “I will trust you Lord to work out the details then I will obey.” Nope. If we do that we are delaying God’s plan. If we wait for God to work out the details on our terms, there will never be obedience. If, on the other hand we say, “Obedience then trust,” and we commit to this, then God can and will show exactly how glorious and powerful He really is. God does not want our ABILITY. God wants our AVAILABILITY. “Ability” is what we are able to do. “Availability” is letting God do what He does through us.
Let 2011 be a year of praise and worship of God and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Yes that means 365 days; 8,760 hours; 525,600 minutes; and 31,536,000 seconds worth of praise, worship, lifting up, and encouragement, blessing, and yes, obedience. It means we cannot let anything else stop us from focusing on God and His plan for us.
Then as Paul said to the Church at Philippi, “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6-7 NLT)
Happy New Year!
Hello Again!!
7 years ago
