We are just barely into this brand new year, and I am sure you have been hearing all kinds of things about resolutions. I know I have. So, it has me wondering how all the resolution-makers and goal-setters are doing? Maybe they are still on track. Maybe they are already wondering what they were thinking when they made their resolutions. Maybe they are negotiating with themselves about adjusting their plans so they will work out.
Maybe I know this because I have been there. I have been the resolution-maker at the start of a new year vowing to “be better, do better, try harder.” I have been the resolution-maker disappointed by the end of the year. They just don’t seem to work for me. I think they actually bring out a not-so-great side — overthinking, controlling, shame, disappointment. Stress.
I say, less stress and more grace!
Most of us probably do some kind of end-of-the-year analyzing and make plans for the new year ahead. Gyms are busy, diet plans are downloaded or printed out, organizational tools are ready to be used, and the list goes on and on. Trying to be better, healthier, more accomplished, happier than we were — who couldn’t use a little more of that?
But are we forgetting something? We can’t do all this alone. Are our goals rooted in truth, following His ways? Are we foremost thinking about seeking God’s plan for us in the new year?
Invite God into your planning. Allow Him to be the One at work in you. Think of it as a cooperative effort.
He wants us to take the gifts He has given us and will give us and to use them to follow His plan and glorify Him. God doesn’t want us to make huge, unattainable goals that leave us disappointed in ourselves when they aren’t reached.
We can be incredibly critical of ourselves. I don’t know about you, but if I set goals and resolutions and then don’t follow through, I can be pretty down on myself. Does that sound like a good plan year after year? I think not!
But God knows which goals were the right ones for us. He knows how to best use our time and gifts.
God has beautiful gifts and plans in store for us in the new year ahead, and these gifts and plans are specially designed just for you and me. Provide Him the room to show how wondrous He truly is. Trust He is doing good in all things. There is so much only God can do when we let Him work in and through us.
I have to believe that God is good and He is doing good in all things. I have to believe that He loves me and only wants the very best for me. I have to believe what God can do through me will be more amazing than what I can do on my own, and I hope you’ll believe with me.
Commit to Him, one beautiful day at a time. Seek Him first and follow Him. Trust His promises first and foremost. You don’t have to be perfect, you don’t have to know everything, you don’t need to listen to society’s standards. Instead, embrace His way for you. Be excited for the way God will use you for His purpose in this new year ahead.
He is faithful, and He has you.
Seek the Lord and His strength; seek His presence continually! Remember the wondrous works that He has done, His miracles and the judgments He uttered.
1 Chronicles 16:11-12 (ESV)
Commit to Him, one beautiful day at a time. Seek Him first and follow Him. - Jennifer Ueckert Click To Tweet Leave a Comment
Jennifer,
I got curious and Googled when, how, and why the practice of making New Year’s resolutions began. Here’s what I found: Babylonians made promises to their gods at the start of each year that they would return borrowed objects and pay their debts. The Romans began each year by making promises to the god Janus, for whom the month of January is named. To make a long story short….New Year’s resolutions don’t have Biblical roots. Yes, we are to be continually “working out our salvation,” but that is only as a response to the awesome grace that has already been poured out on us. Just like His mercies are new every morning, I feel like my resolve is to live every day in God’s will and so that my life would be a fragrant offering to Him. This isn’t just for January, but for every day. I know, however, that even with my best effort, I’ll fall short and so I ask God to let me be the vessel and that HE would be the One poured out from me. I wholeheartedly agree….less stress, more grace….and I don’t make New Year’s resolutions any more. Great post!
Blessings,
Bev xx
Thanks for the history lesson, Bev! Very enlightening!
That’s interesting to know Bev thank-you. I had no idea, in fact I don’t remember much talk of it growing up.
I hope all is well…
All the best to you,
Penny
Thank you for sharing this, Bev. So very interesting! I couldn’t agree more, every day in His will, following His lead, walking out His purpose for me. All we can do is try our best and I know He meets us there. Grateful for that! Blessings, friend!
I didn’t make any resolutions this year, either, Jennifer, and that’s a first for me. Instead, I’m leaning in to the given, persevering in whatever my hands find to do, and God has given a number of new assignments that are requiring my focused attention. I’m grateful for His leading, and waiting to see what He will do in the space I’m trying (trusting is a better word) to give Him in 2019.
That sounds awesome, Michele! And exciting to see where He will lead you this year. Happy for you in 2019!
Jennifer, thank you for your thoughts. They’re a confirmation of the theme I’m adopting this year: Celebrate action, embrace imperfection. Aside from that, I have flexible goals, but no particular resolution. I cling to Philippians 2:13 that God is at work inside me, helping me want to obey Him, and then helping me do what pleases Him.
Oh yes this sounds just wonderful, Pearl. It also sounds peaceful and so much less stressful! Yes and amen to that!
Less stress and more grace! I do love that! I was feeling so much pressure to do better and may be due to my email box always sending me articles on how I could be better at so many things I can’t list them all here! It can feel so heavy after awhile thinking we must do something to be better. But God’s already loves us just the way we are, today at this moment. Letting go and allowing God to love us and have all flow out from that place is our natural design, isn’t it? Yes, let’s embrace His way for us!
It sounds so wonderful and peaceful, Lynn! I am so tired of feeling all that pressure to be better and do better every new year. Praying this can be a new way for all of us each year. His way for us!
Jennifer,
This was refreshing. I also didn’t make any real New Years’ resolutions so to speak. At 3:30 this morning I thought I heard my son call out to me but when I got up and checked on him he was sound asleep. I knew clearly what it meant……..
Isaiah 42:18
“Hear you deaf; look, you blind and see.” I really want to try to be more focused so I can see, hear and do all that God intends me to.
Have a blessed day all,
Penny
That is such an awesome goal for the year ahead, Penny. Being more focused on what He intends for us… should make for a purposeful year ahead!
We can’t do this alone. Yes! We can’t do anything alone. Jennifer, thanks for the reminder and encouragement to keep our goals and priorities aligned with His will, relying on His strength.
Excited to see where He leads all of us this year, Becky! Thank you, friend! xo
This is also my first year of not making any resolutions. Instead, as a mentor of mine once said “How you end your last season is how you’ll start the next one.” So in December I started actively incorporating the things that I wanted to be a part of 2019. And so far so good! Thanks for your sharing your thoughts!
Oh that sounds wonderful, Rachel! Makes so much sense too. Happy 2019!
Jennifer,
Resolutions are a man made idea good for nothing. Personally I don’t make resolutions per say. I just try to make each day & year better than the one before. Let’s work on eating healthier- like the Daniel Plan.
A couple of things you mentioned hit home with me. “He wants us to take the gifts He has given us and will give us and to use them to follow His plan and glorify Him.” Add that to what Chip Ingram of Living on Edge said in “Breaking Through Life’s Biggest Barriers: “Unwrap your spiritual Gift, unleash your spiritual passion Use your God-given talents, Leverage your past experience. I think God is trying hard to tell me something here. “God has beautiful gifts and plans in store for us in the new year ahead.” That statement couldn’t be more true for me. I got separation papers from a part-time job last week. This week I contacted a company via email & they want to interview me Monday. I chose this company due to past experiences/trials with my aging father. It would be a companion caregiver type position. I never would have thought of that before my trials with my parents. God does have amazing plans for us. We just need to get in, raises our hands high in the air & go for a wild journey with God.
Blessings 🙂
Oh Beth… that is so awesome! I am so excited for you. That does sound like such a great fit for you. I know with all you went through, you could really use that experience to change the lives of so many people. Praying for you and your interview! Excited to see the plans He has for you play out!
I’ve made up my mind, no more anxious thoughts in 2019, I’m praying more, going to church 2 days a week , getting to know good people. With prayer , I am doing this!