It’s not everyone’s thing.
But for many the start of the new year is also an opportunity to weigh long held beliefs and frames of reference.
A chance to consider your own share in the successes and teachable moments of the past year without any excuses.
A chance to reflect your beginning-of-the-year- and end-of-the-year-self in the mirror of the Word and find the goblins or the growth.
So many beginnings.
So many endings.
So many should-haves.
So many “what-was-I-thinking”s.
And the one common denominator in each situation – unless you’ve been holed up by yourself on an island these past 12 months – is … people.
Tim Keller writes that the product of a true, growing, gospel-centred nature, is often gentleness.
Oh, boy.
How many times over the past 365 days have my rough edges caused blood to flow in my hasty passage through life?
And if you delve deep, deeper – no, even deeper still, then the following statement may finally make some sense: The opposite of love is not necessarily hate, but fear.
It is not hate that makes me snap at you.
It’s the fear that you may be right.
It is not hate that makes me questions your choices so vehemently.
It is the fear that I will not be able to save you from the consequences.
It is not hate that prevents me from spending time with you.
It’s the fear that I will discover the fallibility of my love.
During the time of Haggai, the Lord’s people were offered the opportunity to rebuild and restore the temple in all its glory. But their own struggle for survival did not leave much enthusiasm for the work at hand. Besides, they could just not fathom a temple reflecting the grandeur and majesty of the original building.
And they got tired.
Fear of failure left them paralysed.
But then the prophet spoke these words of encouragement:
“Haggai then told them that the Lord had promised to be with them.
So the Lord God All-Powerful made everyone eager to work on His temple…”
Haggai 1:13 CEV
My oil jar is often at its lowest point when I kneel in front of the Lord every morning.
Thank God I don’t have to leave there that way!
As long as I keep returning to the fountain, day after day after day,
He will meet me there.
He will exchange my fear every day for His understanding that not everything needs to be understood.
As long as I believe that He still loves me despite the never-ending excavations and restorations and extensions on the construction site of my heart, I need not fear showing Him the rotten pipes.
Those areas that are ready for demolition, are exactly the parts of me that excite Him!
Your inspiration for the week: Arrows
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