As the year 2018 comes to an end, for many of us it will hold mixed emotions. For some, the past year was one of sickness, challenges or bereavement. For others, it has been a year of problems, joys and some regrets. Nonetheless, what ever the year has been, we must press forward. So long as you have life, you have hope and with hope there are opportunities to do more and be more to the glory of God.
We often find ourselves prisoners of our past where we imprison ourselves in our own failures, short comings and disappointments.
Some of us will make new year resolutions, but making them and keeping them are two different things. For many, January marks the month of new beginnings when we endeavor to start a new, doing something to make us better than before.
The month of January is named after the one headed god with two faces. One looked back to the time passed and one looking forward to the time to come. We can look back at the past and learn from it but we can’t change it. However, we can look for the future and and plan ‘for’ it.
Steve Maraboli wrote, “The truth is, unless you let go, unless you forgive yourself, unless you forgive the situation, unless you realize that the situation is over, you cannot move forward.”
The Apostle Paul wrote about the past and the future and summarized it beautifully, saying “Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead.” Philippians 3:13
As we anticipate and then make our transition from 2018 into 2019, may we not live in the past of 2018, but press forward into the new season of 2019, with the hope, grace and resources God gives us for each new day.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!