Making Room for God's Resolutions To You in 2019
It was a simple question really. Is that your resolution this year? It came after committing to an intention out loud. While it’s not my resolution or my word for 2019, I’ve been wanting to be kinder this year.
Kinder came about not because I see myself as always unkind. More from a place that I can be quick to judge. I can use my sarcasm to both be funny and make a point. And sometimes, I just need to be kind over being right.
After the question came, I had more thoughts, of course. I don’t really do resolutions - I do a theme word. MY ONE WORD. A theme and focus for my year and I had already chosen my word. BREATHE.
Breathe because I needed a fresh breadth from God and breathing in God in 2019. Breathe because since I’ve becoming a small business owner I’ve been driven and seeking to perform and always working. I needed to take time to breathe and rest and find security and purpose from who I am instead of what I do. So…
BREATHE…
And then my friend Ashley posted this…
Photo Credit: Ashley Kalhagen
It stopped me in my tracks. And whether you make resolutions or you choose a word, maybe it’s stopping you in your tracks too. God’s resolutions are bigger than yours. God’s resolutions are more powerful than anything we could dream up. God’s resolutions are described perfectly with this…
“The faithful love of the Lord never ends!
His mercies never cease.
Great is his faithfulness;
his mercies begin afresh each morning.”
God has resolved to love you right where you are. Today. God has resolved to extend grace and mercy that are new every morning. God has resolved to provide for your needs. God has resolved to finish the work He has started in you.
So how do we make room for God’s resolutions in our life this year?
Creating Space
One of things I find myself repeating in my coaching practice is simple. If we want to hear from God. If we want Him to speak. If we want to know what direction He wants us to take. Then we need to create the space for Him to meet with us.
In my own life, I confess, that I don’t always take the time to create that space. I’m busy and in a rush. I’ve got to get to that next thing. My to-do list. My work. My errands. My people. And what gets cut is breathing and resting with God.
Creating space can mean an actual space. A few of the One Foot gals have created a prayer space or chair where they meet with God regularly. But it also means creating space in your heart. It means showing up to meet with God even when you don’t feel like He’s speaking. It means showing up to read God’s Word even when it seems dry. Yesterday. Today. And tomorrow. It means bringing Him your heart day after day and being ready for Him to speak. To change your heart. To change your direction. To remind you of his resolutions to you.
Slowing Down
As I write this, I’m coming off a week of migraine headaches. Headaches that were immune to medicine. Headaches that stopped me in my tracks. The only problem? I didn’t have time for these problems.
I was busy. I had clients to serve. I’m in the middle of trying to finish writing our next One Foot Faith Coaching Bible study. I have deadlines. And places to be.
Instead, I sat on my couch with a bag of frozen broccoli on my head (I didn’t have any peas so you use what you have, am I right?) and resting. Taking a break from all things productive until i felt better. Until my head wasn’t pounding.
About day 3 was when I realized that I had just completed my new 90 day vision with my new planner. One of my intentions? Slowing down for self care. Slowing down to breathe and rest and care for my soul.
So I stopped stressing about my deadlines and starting savoring the down time. Allowing it to slow me down. Allowing it to bring my heart before God. Allowing it to force me to stop producing and start living.
You may not need the abrupt slowing down I needed. But God, in His infinite wisdom, calls to us in the slowing down. He asks us to stop doing and start becoming in His presence. He reminds us that we are enough. Today. Even when nothing gets done.
Remembering
Making room for God’s resolutions includes remembering. Remembering who He is and promised to be. Remembering what He has done for us. Remembering that we belong to Him.
A few months ago, a friend at church handed me a book by one of my fave authors called Remember God. In the book, Annie walks through a difficult year and asks the question, “Is God kind to me?” After a year of wrestling and walking and resting, she reflects on God’s faithfulness to her. She remembers that God is good and kind and faithful even when it feels like He is not.
Sometimes you and I need a reminder. A reminder that God is faithful even when you feel like He’s forgotten. A reminder that God is loving even when your days seem hard. A reminder that you are exactly where God wants you. In this moment. In the middle of your ordinary days.
That picture that Ashley took. It’s powerful and meaningful because it's true. God resolutions to you have the power to change your life. Does it mean I give up on committing to show up and address some things that need changing? No. I’ll still commit to my word - mostly because it’s the word God gave me. I’ll still commit to being kinder because sometimes I’m less funny and more harsh than I need to be.
But in the end, the one thing I want to commit to for the next 50 weeks (we are in week 2) it to remember God’s resolutions to me and to walk in the truths of His promises more than I trust my own.
Hey you! Got your attention? I’d love to hear from you. What word or resolutions are you committing to this year? And which of God’s resolutions to you commit to remembering? Let’s walk together as remember God’s goodness and faithfulness this year.
