The best way to leave one year and enter another is to remember a few things like: life is a journey, we are not alone and the win is always bigger.
We are often so end-goal focused that we can lose sight of the amazing places and faces along the way. Goals are great for getting direction, creating movement and tracking progress, but at the end of the day it’s the entire journey that provides all the gain. Can you imagine arriving on top of Mt Everest in a helicopter? That may seem like a great achievement, but without the expedition you have gained little more than a better view; something you could get in a jumbo jet. The real value of reaching the summit of Everest was the ground covered, the fears conquered, the lessons learned, the character forged, the relationships developed, the stories acquired and the testimony gained. On Facebook recently, Stephen Mansfield made the comment that “the new year has no magical power. The new year is the old year on a different calendar.” Although he was highlighting the value of internal change over the change of date, it also makes the case about not expecting one event (January 1) to be more that it is. Yes, New Years can give us a marker for launching into some new, noble ambition, but what really matters is all the spaces between this one and the next. In the quest for gaining a great marriage don’t forget to have one along the way. Enjoy the journey, because it is about everyone, everywhere and all the time.
How many of us have been slammed by feelings of being alone? Even within the best of relationships we will all experience this unpleasant emotion. In his book addressing the growing problem of loneliness, social neuroscientist John Cacioppo said that everyone, no matter how popular or extroverted, will experience feelings of loneliness. This is due, in part, to our need for social connection. Regardless of the reasons for feeling lonely, it is real and can have a paralyzing effect on anyone. Good news! Though the feeling is real, being alone is not. First, even if it were true that you were the only human survivor after some global holocaust, He is always with you. During those moments when it seems like He is all you have, He will certainly be more than you could ever need. I have learned this more times than I can count. Second, David wrote, “He makes a home for the lonely.” Not only does God abide with me everywhere and all the time, He also makes me a home. A home is a place of deep relationships, safety and provision. Make no mistake about it, there will always be others who you can count on. God never runs out of family for His son or daughter.
Finally, wins are always bigger. In Him we can never lose more than we gain. Every year is loaded with wins and losses. Sometimes the losses seem more, but a closer look usually reveals a win. Think about it for a minute! If “He causes all things to work together for good” (Romans), and we are gaining a “perfect work” from the testing of our faith (James), even the worst of failures and disappointments seed and fertilize our progress. Paul took it even further when he said that to die (to be with Christ) was his gain. This is not about dying or being failure focused, it’s about recognizing how the residuals of our fallen world always pale in comparison to the glory being revealed.
Enjoy the New Year of 2012, because no matter what, we win and Jesus gets the glory!
bmosaic 