Blog

by Logan Ames

This week, we transition into yet another new year. It seems like they are just flying by at this point. Sometimes we have an opportunity to prepare for transitions, and other times they just smack us right in the face like we never saw them coming. The end of one year and the beginning of the next may be a calendar transition, but that doesn’t necessarily mean anything changes in your life. Maybe everything is staying the same for 2019. For many, however, you are looking forward to a fresh start after a difficult year.

Like many of you, I’d be lying if I said I love transition. But maybe God allows us to deal with transition because it forces us to depend on him. Think about all the changes you want to make in 2019. Maybe you want to lose some weight, or maybe you want to gain some weight and put on muscle. Maybe you want to save more money and plan for the future, or maybe you want to give more money away. Maybe you want to quit some bad habits like smoking or watching too much TV, or maybe you want to begin some good habits like reading more and drinking more water. Maybe you want to change some sinful behaviors like speeding, road rage, and swearing (usually all 3 happen at the same time for me), or maybe you plan to be kinder and to choose your words more carefully in 2019. No matter what, we are all likely to choose things that we want to do better at, whether we actually make a “resolution” or not.

It’s funny that we call these desired changes “resolutions” rather than just goals. It’s as if somehow saying that we are “resolved” to make these changes makes us more serious and determined to do it. No matter what we call it, statistics have shown that only about 73% of people keep their New Year's resolutions even through the first week! That seems like a high number, but it really means that a quarter of the people who resolve to live differently for the entire year can’t even make it through the first of 52 weeks. The numbers only get worse from there and go all the way down to just under 10% who make it through the entire year with their New Year's resolutions intact!

When we try hard at something or really want it badly but still fail, it’s like a punch to the gut. We’re left wondering why we can’t just do what we want to do. Maybe God wants us to see that we should stop focusing so much on our own strength and resolve to try to get it done. There was probably no one in history more resolved to please Jesus than Peter. Remember, he’s the guy who literally stepped out of a dry boat in the middle of a raging storm and walked on water with Jesus. Yet, Mark 14:37-38 tell us of a time when he couldn’t even stay awake for one hour while Jesus was praying in the Garden of Gethsemane even though that’s what Jesus asked of him. Jesus acknowledged that Peter even had a willing spirit, but that his flesh was weak. Peter had a true desire to do what Jesus asked, but he lost the battle even before the crisis happened. He wasn't actively watching and praying. He had depended too much on his own strength and not enough on God's.

The Apostle Paul was another man who we consider to be a spiritual giant of the early church, yet he was constantly reminded of his own weakness. In 2 Corinthians 12:8-9, he writes, "Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’" That was about his “thorn in the flesh." In Romans 7:15-19, he sounds like a mad and confused man who cannot do what he wants to do and only does what he doesn’t want to do. And we can relate to him because we sometimes feel like that when we can’t “fix” whatever is wrong with us. The more we focus on our own will, the more we’ll be tempted to throw in the towel. Paul was able to recognize his own wretchedness and inability to defeat sin on his own, which led him to recognize Jesus as his rescuer (Romans 7:24-25).

None of us like to admit that we are weak or have failed, so that’s why it’s important during times of transition to focus not on what we haven’t done, but on what God HAS done. We often say that we shouldn’t dwell on the past. If “dwelling” on it means to allow it to hold us back from moving forward, then that’s true! But that doesn’t mean we should never think about the past. In fact, I’d argue it’s necessary to be intentional about focusing on the past at times. The reason many say that we shouldn’t focus on the past is because we often associate “the past” with negative moments. If all we remember is the negative, then we’ll be doomed when crisis comes again because we won’t have any expectation that God will prevail.

This is why God often told his people throughout the Old Testament to be intentional about remembering his work. We see this in Exodus 20:8 with the command to remember the Sabbath that God gave. We see it in Exodus 12:25-27 with the importance of the people remembering the Passover. And we see it in Joshua 4, right after God had caused the Jordan River to dam up so the people could pass through it on dry ground and into the Promised Land, when Joshua tells the leaders of the tribes to take up the twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan as a reminder of God’s faithfulness. In that story, God literally caused water to “pile up in a heap” (Joshua 3:16). I mean, just think about that. Have you ever tried to pile up water? Unless you have a bucket or some other container, it’s impossible! Yet, nothing is impossible with God (Luke 1:37). He doesn’t need buckets to pile and contain water. He simply commands it to pile up and it does.

The significance of looking back on the things God has done cannot be overstated. After all of these events, the people of Israel would still face many more difficult trials that would test their faith. In those moments, it’s important to fall back on something. They could look at their present problem and then remind each other, “Hey, remember that time that God PILED UP WATER? I think he can handle this." The more we forget what God has done in the past and all the ways he has shown up on our behalf when we were desperate, the more fearful we will be during future crises and the more likely we will be to complain to God about our circumstances.

As you make the transition into 2019 and as you face whatever difficulties are going to come this year, I urge you to “remember when." Take some time even now to intentionally reflect on all the ways God has blessed you in your life and even in this past year. Maybe you can even jot them down so that you have something to see with your own eyes when the going gets tough. Failure to do this will only set yourself up for fear and complaining in 2019, while doing this will set yourself up to take some giant leaps of faith that God already has planned for you. Trust the Lord and let him make 2019 your best and most faithful year yet.

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