It is that time of the year again. We are here. We made it. God is good. We saw the end of 2019, and we know it is all by His mercy, not because we are good, or because we are better than other. It’s just because of His mercy.
This time of the year, people make or have made resolutions. So, what are yours?
Perhaps losing weight? Perhaps giving up doing this thing or that thing? Maybe it is spending more time with loved ones. Spending time with family? Maybe it is spending more time with God. More time in prayer or in bible study. Isaiah 43 tells us that God is doing a new thing, so I am asking, what is the one thing you’d like God to do for you in the coming year? What is the one thing that God can do for you, as you enter the year 2020?
One thing. In your life, how do you find that one thing? How do you narrow it down, how do you go from a possible list of resolutions to just one thing? Well, there’s a simple way to do so. Ask yourself these questions.
1 – What one thing do you want?
Throughout the year, we’ve heard testimonies. Testimonies are biblical. They are there to encourage us, to show us what God has done as well as to show us what God can do and will do. As such, testimonies are given, so we too can have a point of prayer, a point of request. Habakkuk, the prophet said something that I think we should all pay attention to. In his own day, he was crying out to God for a miracle and wrote a song, testifying to God’s ability to do wonders. The lyrics of the song are recorded in Habakkuk 3:2-3 and they say, “Lord, I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, Lord. Repeat them in our day, in our time make them known”.
Perhaps someone you know is going through a hard time. Perhaps someone you know is struggling with sin. Perhaps someone is struggling with sorting out a marriage issue. Perhaps someone has a habit of breaking promises. Maybe that someone is you. Perhaps someone you know just wants to be in a relationship and yearns for a companion. Perhaps someone you know has been hurt. Hurt by a situation, hurt by someone, hurt by someone who knows Jesus. Perhaps you know someone has struggled financially for so long and is getting rally, really tired. Maybe it is a family situation that has caused someone pain. Perhaps someone needs to know more of the Lord, get closer, walk in the ways of the Lord, be a witness for Him, no matter what others may be saying, no matter how others will react. Maybe that someone is you.
2 – What one thing do you need to let go of?
The prophet, in Isaiah 43:18, said, “Forget the former things”. He is not saying that we should disregard our heritage. He clarifies it in saying, “do not dwell on the past”. Paul, writing in Philippians 3:13, says this. “Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining towards what is ahead, I press on towards the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenwards in Christ Jesus”. Maybe you’ve gotten things wrong in the past. Perhaps you’ve made some silly choices, wrong moves and ended up where you shouldn’t have. You have no one to blame, because you know it was your fault. Well, perhaps it is time to confess or to ask for forgiveness, or to let go. To let go of the guilt you’ve carried.
3 – What one promise can you cling to?
Well the answer to this, is in our text from Isaiah 43:19. God assures us with these words, “See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland”. That is the assurance we have, that God is not finished with us yet. The assurance that even though the life you before you may have been tough, even though things haven’t gone the way you wished or dreamed or even prayed, even though it can sometimes feel like you’re lost in the wilderness and you’re going to perish in the wasteland, God is not done with you. There is something new waiting for you.
Will you let Him do the new thing in your life?
Today is a good day to make that decision.
May you have another testimony.