Are there others like me, who have given up on making New Year’s resolutions?
It has been more than a decade since I last made any New Year’s resolution, because I have learned that the adage, ‘Man plans, God laughs’ is very true.
Not that I am a disorganised person who sets out without any goals; I am only focusing on being a better version of myself in every aspect of life – so help me God!
Instead of the resolutions, I like using these first weeks of the year to reflect on all the ways the previous year pleasantly surprised me by God’s grace. Call it counting my blessings. There are milestones I achieved that had nothing to do with my goals or any resolutions; God clearly just came through and made me glad.
I have learnt that some of the things we want and would put on a New Year’s resolutions list we actually don’t need; God gives us what we need and that may not necessarily be what we want in that moment. I have come to be at peace with that and rejoice in every blessing.
Last year, for example, God exceeded my expectations; of all the things He did, none would have made it to my resolutions list, because some were too big for me to fathom. Yet He did it all.
I also like the fact that every year for 17 Januaries now, my church New Jerusalem Deliverance Centre sets this month aside as a ‘tithe’ or our ‘first fruit’ of the year ahead. We fast and pray for 21 days, dedicating the months ahead to the Lord and asking that His will be done.
Now, I know that the Bible says in Isaiah 45:11, that ‘…concerning the work of My hands, command me…’ so, you are not in error when you make your resolutions and ask God to honour them. I simply prefer going with the first part of that same verse that says,‘…ask me of things to come concerning my sons…”
That is what this January is going to be about: Asking God about things concerning me. He alone knows that I spent years making resolutions of all kinds, and things did not exactly pan out as planned.
When I let Him take the wheel, however, it has been year after year of pleasant surprises. Have a blessed year ahead, children of God.
malita@observer.ug