THE PLAN OF NORMAL OBEDIENCE

It’s January - the month of plans, goals and dreams… and sometimes less excitingly, failed goals and disappointment. January feels like it could make or break your whole year. It’s become a huge fad over the last several years (in my opinion, a positive fad) that people pick a word that they want to define their life over the next twelve months. We listen to great sermons, participate in 21 DOP and try to do all the right things. We drink our water and eat better. And then sometime around now… we stop trying. We stop our devotion time, we have an extra slice of pizza followed by ice cream and we go back to all the things we swore we would quit. New year, new me, right?

I think we place a lot of pressure on January to be the defining point of our year. If we don’t hear from God or we don’t lose those five pounds or whatever it is we are trying to do, we feel like a failure in something that’s only 1/12th over. So I’m going to bring some things into focus for all of us at this halfway point of the month.

1. The only way to fail at your goal is to really stop completely. Stop trying to find new ways to be alone with God, stop reading your Bible, stop working out, and for sure stop eating well. Every single person has bad days where we fail at something. Be gracious enough to forgive yourself and do better with the next choice you make. As I tell my youth group every time we say goodbye, “Make good choices.” I like to think of it as framing my short term decisions for the best long term impact. That’s the only way I can quit french fries, honestly.

2. If you didn’t get any more clarity from God regarding your future and purpose during your fast or 21 DOP, you aren’t a bad Christian. My favorite pastor, Michael Todd of Transformation Church, says this, “When you don’t know what direction you should go, go back to the very last thing God told us to do.” To put it very simply, when you don’t know what to do engage in everyday, normal obedience. Pray. Read the Bible. Invest in time with Him. There are seasons where I hear God very clearly and seasons where I feel like He couldn’t be further away. I get so focused on desperately needing to know where I’m going in the future that I forget to reside in the present and fulfill the calling I have in this moment. He asks us to be faithful. He is working out the details for you.

3. Please choose progress over perfection. I love the tenacity everyone starts the new year with, and hate to see it fade. The best way to kill a goal or a dream is to hear people around you make comments about “being realistic.” Your dreams aren’t for everyone. Sometimes you have to move in silence. I very specifically mean REAL silence, not Instagram silence, where you constantly talk about being on your grind. Find a few people you trust and confide in them what you want this year to bring. Be willing to listen to wise counsel, but continue to pray and ask what the Lord would have you do.

I hope we all win. I hope that even if it feels like no one else is cheering for you, that you think about these words and know that I am cheering for your every success. I pray that this year brings you joy, that you are sustained by our Saviour on the toughest of days, and that the things you have dreamed in the very depths of your soul begin to bloom and flourish. Here’s to 2020. #togetherwewin