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Every year at this time many people begin the year with New Year’s Resolutions, firm decisions about something they are going to do, or not do. Resolutions range from healthy living decisions, to relational decisions, financial decisions, etc.
Most resolutions can be summed up in five words: “I want to be happy.” Some will even qualify that by saying, ‘After all, God wants me happy, right?” Here’s the spoiler alert. God doesn’t want you happy! That may sound cruel. How can a God of love not want you happy? The simple reason is that he wants better for you. Happiness is based on circumstances. A healthy bonus makes you happy, a lay off notice does not. An engagement ring makes you happy, a divorce summons does not. A healthy doctors report makes you happy, a bad report does not. Happiness is conditional to your circumstance!
God doesn’t want you happy, he wants you blessed with the joy and peace only he can give. Joy isn’t CONDITIONAL, joy is POSITIONAL. A friend of mine went through a divorce recently. When asked how he was, his response was always, “I’m blessed” He said that to me on good days, on the day his son passed away due to cancer, and the day he told me his wife left him. Blessed? Yes. Blessed. Certainly not because of his circumstance but because of his faith in Jesus.
Jesus tells the story of a man who demanded his brother give him is share of the inheritance. You can read about it in Luke 12:13-21. This story is often used to teach about greed and money but another look at it reveals something more important. There are three questions that need to be answered in regards to joy v happiness.
Rather than resolutions, this year set some goals. Goals are more action oriented and these questions may help with that.
What’s most important to you?
‘Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” ‘ Luke 12:13
Imagine the situation. Jesus is teaching about trusting God not material possessions when suddenly a man shouts out his desire for Jesus to intervene in a family squabble. There are many lessons from this, but in short, the man was more concerned about fairness, his own rights, and money. As you enter 2023, ask yourself two questions. 1) What is the most important possession (material or immaterial) I own? 2) Can I give that up? Is Jesus more important than this?
What do I hope to accomplish?
“Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.” ’ ‘ Luke 12:18-19
Jesus tells a story to illustrate his point. A man had a bumper crop. He was blessed. He had been blessed with so much that he had no place to store it. So he decided to build more storage, sit back, and live an easy life. There is nothing wrong with investment. Nothing wrong with a healthy retirement account. But that’s not what we are talking about here. This man took all the credit for his blessing rather than acknowledging God in the process. We aren’t in control of what we’ve been given, but we are responsible for how we use what we have. Investing in the future is wise, but investing in the lives of others is divine.
Are your goals for 2023 others-oriented or self-oriented?
What legacy do you want to leave behind?
‘ “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’ ‘ Luke 12:20
The last question to ask in 2023 is, ‘What legacy do I want to leave behind?’ The other day I was doing some writing at a local coffee shop. An acquaintance I hadn’t seen in years greeted my by calling me my father’s name. Dad died in 2012! I doubt this person even caught herself. I was honored to think that my dad’s legacy was so strong. Someone once said, “Live life according to what you want people to say about you at your funeral.”
You may say you aren’t important enough to live a legacy but each of us is building a legacy now, every day of our lives. The good news is that through Jesus, legacy building can start now.
Happy New Year! May 2023 draw you closer to Jesus, reveal what’s truly important, and be the beginning of a Godly legacy!
I remember it vividly. I’d had my eye on a certain truck at the local car dealership for some time. I couldn’t afford it, but had all sorts of good ‘ministry’ reasons to buy it. Finally I went in to talk to the dealer. He gave me a deal I chose not to resist. A deal that was right out of my budget range. You don’t get deals like that everyday! I signed the papers and drove it off the lot, completely ignoring the knot in my stomach. God never yells. God’s soft voice is often drowned out by the voice of desire.
Fast forward…i remember watching the repossession guy hooking my truck up to his truck and watching my dream truck being pulled away down the street.
Today is the first day of 2019! Many will be making resolutions to lose weight, eat better, spend more wisely and the list goes on. Goals are good. Plans are good. But the missing ingredient in many of our planning sessions is the ultimate question of ‘Where is God in my plans?
Each week we say the ‘Lords Prayer’ at our church. Each week we say “thy will be done” but in reality, our hearts are saying ‘my will be done.’ When our hearts are in tune with God’s heart our plans will naturally gravitate towards his desires and not our own.
Make 2019 the year that God shows himself mightily to you because you are close to his heart. Draw close to him and he’ll draw close to you.
For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland. Isaiah 43:19
It’s a new year! This past week I read a headline that stated something like, “Pollsters report that people are hoping for a better year in 2014.” I smirked when I read it. I have this (perhaps) weird habit of wondering if the opposite headlines are ever written. Ever seen a headline that read “The latest survey shows people hoping everything get’s tanked in the next 12 months?” Of course not! We always hope for a better tomorrow.
As children we hoped the new school year, or new school would be better for us. As parents we work hard to try to make a better life for our children and grandchildren. Many have sought new relationships, new careers or relocation to make for a better life.
As we enter the New Year, the prophet Isaiah gives us some guidance worth looking at. He’s writing to a people who are exiled from the country promised them by Jehovah God. Imagine how parents felt as they told their children, “Yes, YHWH promised us a new land. He miraculously delivered us from Egyptian captivity. When King David and Solomon were in control we enjoyed prestige, power and prosperity. Those were the years.”
Then the question. “But what happened Father? Why are we exiles now? Why did God abandon us?
With hung head the father would say, “Because, my son, we failed. YHWH told us that if we refused to follow his ways we would endure exile. Then, in tears he repeats, ‘We failed and now there is no hope.”
It’s to this situation that Isaiah writes, [YHWH states:] For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland. (Isaiah 43:19)
What an encouragement to a people who were beaten up, stomped down and hopeless. God’s plan was already working. It was something not easily seen to the casual observer perhaps, but it was happening.
When we focus on our weakness and our failures we fail to experience God’s grace. Dwelling on the past deprives us of the future God has in mind for us.
Whatever has happened in the past needs to be left behind. Whatever situation you are currently in needs to be handed over to a merciful Father whose main desire in life it to give us freedom. He is a God who is even now preparing the road we must follow to make it through the wilderness of our future.
Focusing on the past or our current situation won’t allow us to see how God is using those very things that entangle us to give us victory. Everything we are doing now is preparation for what God is doing for our future.
PRAYER: Father God, I ask that you would help each of us see our past and current situations as mere stepping stones to seeing your plan unveiled in the future. Help us to enter what lay ahead with confidence knowing that you are going to do something new in our lives. Amen.
Mike Fisk & Built with Grace 