Another year has quickly passed into the annals of history, and a memorable year it was. 2014 was filled with global & personal challenges, and more growth for me than any time in recent years. As I stand just inside the door of a new year, and look to the future, the word that comes to mind is “possibilities.” “Unspecified qualities of a promising nature; potential” Webster.
For me, celebrating the New Year is like pushing the restart button, a fresh start in the important areas of my life. A chance to rethink the journey and how I am navigating, a chance to make course corrections. God has given us a road map for the journey in the Bible. In it we are encouraged to take stock of our lives and make any necessary changes to live as God intends us to. Hebrews 12:1 (NLT) says:
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.”
We see three important things in this passage. 1) Life is like a race of unknown duration. We don’t know how long our race/life will be, but if we have a chance at winning the prize, we need to lighten the load so we can run our best race. Here the load can be several things but one is specifically mentioned, sin. Sin is like loose shoe laces on our life and if we are not careful, it will trip us and we will fall. 2) We don’t run alone. We are told that there are a great crowd of witnesses to our lives as followers of Jesus and they are cheering us on through our struggles. 3) The race is not going to be easy. Life will have it’s difficulty, and we will be required to endure to win the race.
As I think about the possibilities before me in 2015 my mind is filled with anticipation of what can be accomplished. In the days & weeks ahead I will be intentionally thinking, planning and structuring my life around the possibilities God has for me, my family, friendships and ministry and I would encourage you to do the same.
Realistically, like most years, 2015 will have it’s high points and it’s lows. But, I am confidant of this, that God is working out his plan in and through me, and you too! In the words of King David in Psalm 27:13:
“I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.
Happy New Year!
rickallendunn 