Preparing for the New Year

Preparing for the New Year

In preparing for the New Year I began looking at the past years and the resolutions I have made.  Many like exercise more, lose weight, read my Bible every morning, read more books, watch less TV, listen to more music, spend quiet time with the Lord, put my cell phone down and listen...and on and on...

Most of these goals/resolutions were never met.  Not because I intended to fail at them but because some were vague and general and because some of them I had no conviction to fulfill.  I would spend more time planning the act to plan than to actually fulfill them.  I would find a perfect calendar that I would purchase along with multi-colored highlighters so I could color code the things I wanted to change in the new year.  I would organize the times and days for each of the tasks at hand. 

Sometimes the planning of the goals would become overwhelming and I would lose focus of the goals and become more frustrated by the color of the highlighter I would use for scheduling.  Let's just say that January was way more colorful than February and by April there was no color at all.

This year when I began to think of New Year's goals/resolutions I really wanted to make a list that would be meaningful and impactful.  Goals/resolutions that would make a difference in my and other's lives.  I needed to look deeper and be more focused on what changes I truly needed to make.  What goals could I make that I couldn't or wouldn't make on any given day?  What would be different this time?

There were many things that I wanted to do for this next year but I wanted to make sure that this time it was God's Will not just my desires.  I had to first seek God and see what He would lead me to.

Proverbs 16:3 "Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your plans."

I began to pray, to lay my desires before God and ask Him to lead me to the path He wanted me to follow.  There were a few things that became very clear very quickly.  Yes I need to lose a little weight and yes I should be exercising more but I wanted to seek a deeper connection to what God wanted me to do.  He wants me to take care of His temple, my body, daily.  That shouldn't be left for a new year, just a new day. Taking care of the temple God has given you to carry His Holy Spirit is something we should do daily.  Along with reading His Word and praying.

I wanted to seek these goals in a way that would be pleasing to God and not just to self.  So I began to pray about the things that I had set as goals for my New Year.  This week I plan to seek the Lord in quiet time, reading His Word and praying asking Him to establish my plans for the New Year.

Next week I will lay out my goals for the New Year and how the Lord guided me in determining what they are.  I am excited about this New Year!  I am excited about what great things will be happening through out the year.

Have you made goals in the past that were gone before February?  Have you had goals that you have accomplished?  What are the difference in the two types of goals?  What are you doing to determine your New Year's goals?  

Join me in this years journey through the seasons of our lives!