New Year, New Possibilities

It has been said that there really isn’t anything special about January first, compared to its preceding December thirty-first. It’s just another day! And while this is technically true, what makes the distinction between these two days, for me at least, is the air of possibility once that clock strikes midnight. Unlike the rush of fear and dread, I assume Cinderella felt when she heard her clock strike midnight when a New Year is ushered in by that reset of my clock given away by four zeroes, I am filled with thanksgiving and hope.

Hope is a powerful thing. Hope will get you out of bed on dark days and will keep you going even when no one around you understands why you are still trying. Hope, that feeling of expectation, desire and trust, is a powerful thing. It’s the reason New Year’s Eve is filled with anticipation and why New Year’s Day is such a big deal.

When I was younger I didn’t get what all the fuss was about. New Year’s Day was a public holiday which I never really got to truly benefit from because school was always closed anyway. So what was the big deal? The adults wished one another a Happy New Year and said things like, “May God give you all you desire this year,” or “May God prosper you this year.” As I’ve gotten older, I have learned to appreciate the significance of this day. I’ve learned to appreciate the fact that I even lived to experience the moment. I find myself reflecting on any loved ones lost over the past year and being genuinely thankful that I got the opportunity to be alive to see the onset of a new year.

New Year’s Day is a big deal, not because of the late-night braai or the parties, music or food, and no, not even because of the fireworks displays. It’s a big deal because it’s an opportunity for us to line our focus, our mood and even our prayers with the heart of God. Did you know that God loves to give us fresh starts? Oh yes, He does! Only a God who gets a kick out of pressing the reset button for us would ensure that every day the springs of His mercy are filled back up.

“The faithful love of the LORD never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning.” ~ Lamentations 3:22-23 (NLT)

Our Heavenly Father loves to give us a fresh start and I believe that New Year’s Day truly is an opportunity for us to align our hearts with His in this regard. Once we do, we can truly appropriate the daily discipline of basking in His mercies. Yep, you read right, I said discipline. That isn’t the most attractive word in the dictionary, no matter the conversation, I know, but hear me out. God’s mercies never end and are refilled every single morning, that’s a fact; however, this can only ring true in our lives if we create the space of mind and heart to receive the significance there. You see, for you to fully appreciate the impact of this promise, you will need to allow yourself to lean into the idea that regardless of the past or current situation, God has amazing possibilities ahead.

Let me give you a glimpse at this from a practical vantage point into my own life. At the end of 2019, I remember creating the space for God to show me what He was up to regarding the upcoming New Year. My husband, Ceaser and I had exhausted all the faith we could muster up to trust God for a huge miracle. If I am being completely honest, I think my personal faith bank was in the negatives after what felt like a marathon of taking daily steps in the dark and trusting God to preserve us. And He did. He did more than that really, He performed small miracle after small miracle until the big miracle was accomplished. We were ending the year in awe of God’s goodness while simultaneously quite raw from the rollercoaster of events. Less than a week after this, I remember my feelings being very reminiscent of the story of Elijah; how he called down fire in this spectacular showdown of faith one minute and then was hiding in a cave, depressed and defeated the next. It was in the middle of all these emotions that God started talking to me about the possibilities He was setting up and that I could once again align myself, my mind and my faith with Him.

I remember sitting on the floor one night, as things fell apart around this amazing miracle He had just given us. I couldn’t reconcile what He was saying to me and what I was experiencing so, as I sat on the floor that day, I told God how I would gladly trade it all. I would trade the miracle for the broken pieces to go back to being whole. Each time I think of that moment, I cringe. How ungrateful and even disrespectful of me towards my Father, who showed up and showed off every moment of every day in the weeks that had just gone by. But I was blind. I couldn’t see past the fear and uncertainty of everything that was happening at the time.

Instead of striking me down for my thankless heart towards Him, past the sounds of my ugly cry, He spoke so gently to my heart saying, “Do you not perceive it?” I knew I had heard that phrase somewhere before, so I did what any millennial would do, I picked up my phone and googled it. And there it was, His Word to me in a very low moment of my life;

“See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.” ~ Isaiah 43:19 (NIV)

This Word showed me two things; it showed me God and in seeing Him I saw myself. I saw where I was and in that moment I chose to repent and in faith, believe what He was saying to me. The weeks and months that followed in the year 2020 were difficult, to say the least, but I held on to this. I would go back to it now and then throughout the year and God indeed began to do a new thing. Not at all how I thought or expected, but most definitely how I needed it.

So, will you choose to see this New Year as one with wonderful possibilities from God, regardless of what your world looks like right now? I hope you will, and as you do, please know that you are not alone. On the contrary, I am right there with you, learning to trust God each day, and being disciplined enough to follow through with what He says, even if it’s hard, and even if it’s difficult to believe. My prayer is that as we bask in His mercies, our eyes will be opened to perceive what He is doing and that He gives us grace to walk in step with Him.