Okay, so it is already ten days in, so technically “Happy New Year” is just a little bit late now, but it’s my first time this year on the blog so I wanted to wish you and yours a happy new year.
And what exactly will make it happy?
Is it the circumstances that we hope to have this year that will make us happy? Or is it the attitude we will choose to have in the face of adversity that will make us happy in spite of what happens?
I sometimes wonder if we spend too much of our time trying to control circumstances rather than choosing to adopt a godly attitude to the difficult things that come our way.
My grandmother passed away just over a month ago. She lived through the war where she lost her brother. Then she moved to Canada to start a new life where her husband passed away from cancer at a young age. That might be cause for bitterness. But she had learned the secret of believing that God is actually in control of all things, even when he appears not to be. She loved people with her whole heart, read her Bible faithfully (she read the whole Bible through a minimum of 8 times), and was a magnet of love and acceptance to anyone she met.
Why was that?
There were a couple of reasons for sure. First, she had come to the end of herself. Life was not about her. Life was about Christ and life was about others. She loved to serve. And that is a real lesson for me.
Secondly she trusted God. I know that’s a truism. We all say it. But do we really believe that God works all things together for good? We presume that verse means God wants us to have a good life. But that’s not what the passage says and my grandmother understood that. Whether it was good things in her life or very difficult things, she trusted that God was in control and that he loved her and was using even the difficult things to shape her life and to bring him glory even if she had no idea how that was possible given the circumstances.
So I wish you a happy new year. One that is filled with the confidence that ultimately, God is the great film director who is directing every scene of your life as part of the overall masterpiece to a brilliant conclusion.
Blessings to you on all you do this year.
Paul
2 comments:
A grace-blessed and happy New Year to you, Paul.
Thank you for sharing your grandmother's example of steadfast trust in the goodness and providence of God. She speaks to us, today.
happy New Year to you, too Paul. Thank-you for defining the overcoming peace filled life. May we all follow your godly Grandmother's example! Thank-you for blessing us with your words.
Post a Comment