Moving On

January 4, 2010 – 10:56 pm

It felt like yesterday when we pulled out our Christmas decorations and got everything ready for the big day. Now the decorations are put away for another year and the whole season seems like a vapour. We opened our hearts to the celebration and joy of it all and before we knew it it vanished like a dream.

 

Some things are not so easy to vanish. There are too many stories of broken hearts and hurting lives. Many people would just as soon forget 2009 happened and are afraid to dare believe 2010 can be any better. Disappointment lands a staggering blow when hope is punched out. It’s not easy to simply put it all behind us like nothing happened and maintain a positive spirit or attitude that believes things will be better this year.

 

I was searching for something definitive for 2010 for myself. I wanted to ‘focus right’, find my ’sweet spot’ or my ‘center’ … you know the drill.

 

Then, there it was. I read it so many times that I couldn’t begin to count how often. "Then he said to me, "This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel saying, ‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the LORD of hosts." These are the words of Zechariah, chapter 4, verse 6 (if you don’t know the name, it’s one of the 66 books of the Bible … check out the contents for a page number). God told Zechariah that Zerubbabel needed to finalize building the temple that hadn’t been finished earlier…

 

… you know what it’s like to have unfinished projects because life happens and things get in the way of dreams and necessary things. It’s not the end of the world but it does shape things differently …

 

When God told Z what needed to happen he gave Z this incredible verse. The message is simple."Z, you need to finish the temple … but you can’t do it. You don’t have the skills, the resources, the money, the people. But I have those things, Z. You will do the work and I will resource the project!"

 

Before you go rushing into 2010 with all your plans, dreams and strategies stop for a moment and consider this. Are you setting out to follow what Peterson pens as God’s "unforced rhythms of grace"? (Matthew 11:28, The Message) Oftentimes we’re in a panic. Plans don’t work out and frustration sets in. A sense of direction and purpose is totally missing and we have no idea what we’re doing, why we’re doing it or why we’re here. We can’t figure out what’s happening to us or what do to about it.

 

Here’s what we do about.

 

Nothing.

 

Well, there is one thing. WAIT for God to show you the way through. That is so hard to do and probably the one missing things that often gets us in so much trouble.

 

Now, there are those things beyond our control … broken relationships, illnesses, mistakes made that we’re still paying for and so on. While we can’t control many such outcomes we can control how we’ll respond to them so that they don’t control us. The secret to responding right is knowing God is in the middle of the reality and, if trusted and sought, will work it all out.

 

So, as you move into 2010, listen to what another wise guy said once. His book among the 66 in the Bible is named after him — ISAIAH. He said in chapter 43:19, ""Behold, I will do something new, Now it will spring forth; Will you not be aware of it? I will even make a roadway in the wilderness, Rivers in the desert."

 

That can be as much about correcting the challenges and situations of your life as it was about God doing something spectacular for his people, Israel.

 

So, move on … with your focus on going on God’s road.

 

Happy New Year!

Pastor D