The dawn of every New Year unravels many avenues of opportunities filled with optimism. People all around the globe resolve year after year to leave behind the undesired habits and start afresh with a clean slate at the turn of the New Year. The Bible says, in Psalm 65:11, “You crown the year with your bounty, and your carts overflow with abundance.” Our God is more than enough, and there is no lack in Him. He offers a comeback at any point in time in our lives. We must choose to leave behind what is ugly and not needed and aspire to achieve what is good and valuable.
Does your life sound like a broken record? Are you stuck in the vicious cycle of annoying and repetitive habits that seem to die-hard? Do not give up!
God provides a fresh restart from wherever you are in your life. Isaiah 43:18-19 says, “18 Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. 19 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.” God will set right your monotonous past and open the doors for a future that is filled with His hope and promises.
Moving Forward
The common tendency of humans is to dwell in the failures of the past and feel guilt over the things that cannot be undone. Self-accusation will lead us to implode and prevent us from living the life of freedom that Jesus Christ came to give. John 10:10 says, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”
Our God is a giver of second, third or umpteenth number of chances. The lyrics of this encouraging song ‘Moving Forward’ by Free Chapel, should become the slogan of our lives.
I’m not going back I’m moving ahead I’m here to declare
In You, old things are made new Surrender my life to Christ
I’m moving moving forward
As mentioned in 2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” God breaks the chains and removes the barriers that are ahead of us when we surrender our lives to Him.
Same God… New Horizons
The Bible says no one can fathom the depths of God’s love for us. Out of His abundant love and unending mercies, He redeemed us from our past. Times may have changed and the world may have evolved in an incomprehensible way. Still, our God remains the same. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. He is God over all things we know of and things that we do not know as well. He is all-powerful and He laid the path to our victory when He overcame the Cross. There is no lack in Him when it comes to providing us with opportunities.
New horizons await us in our future. We must trust God and step forward in faith to claim the opportunities that have been created for us. When we do not give up or feel embarrassed to fail, we will succeed in all that we put our hands in to achieve. A well-known motivational quote by Thomas H Palmer says,
‘Tis a lesson you should heed, Try, try again;
If at first you don’t succeed, Try, try again;
Promise Made… Promise Kept
When the door of our next opportunity has not opened yet, we are called to wait in the hallway, praising our God. Our God is a promise keeper. 2 Corinthians 1:20 says, “For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ.” I would like to encourage each of you to stay focused and continue to persevere to reach your goal. We can do all things through Christ who gives us strength to achieve.
In conclusion, I would like to share what God put in my heart for this year 2021. After many unprecedented experiences of 2020, I sought the Lord for a promise for the New Year. The one word that resonated in my mind for this year was ‘RENEW.’. God confirmed it with a promise from Habakkuk 1:5 which says, “Look at the nations and watch — and be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told.” My prayer is to leave behind the disappointments of the past and move forward with a renewed mind of Christ to claim the unique possibilities that are meant for me. I invite you to join me as we put our trust in God to make amends to our past and progress to possess a successful future.
