What’s the first thing you think of when you hear the phrase, new year’s resolutions? My mind automatically goes back to all the years- and I mean, all the years- that I set sail on my New Year’s Resolution ship on January 1st that only proved to be sunken by March.
Year after year after year I experienced this- mostly in my health and fitness journey. So, my first thought about setting a resolution for this year was to simply not do it because I’d decided that they weren’t a good idea and just really a setup for failure.
But, then I started thinking about it and asking myself the question, why is it not a good idea? I think the root of failure with New Year’s resolutions is setting a goal so huge that it’s not realistic in the least. We make these extravagant declarations and we have no plan of how to actually achieve them. Or, we don’t even include God in the resolution.
Before I go on, I have to say that I just listened to a podcast by Joyce Meyer where she spoke about praying big prayers. The premise of her message was that most Christians aren’t asking God for big things for many reasons: they believe He can do it but won’t do it for them. They’ve seen others get what they desperately wanted. Or, they know He can but their track record with God has them gun-shy.
God is absolutely able to do anything. The Bible says in Ephesians 3:20, “God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, His Spirit deeply and gently within us.”
God is capable, and willing (under a couple of conditions) of meeting our desires, our business goals, ministry goals, family goals, financial goals, health and fitness goals, and more. The caveat is that He isn’t going to meet those goals if it isn’t His will or if we are asking with the wrong motive.
Jesus’ entire life on earth was about serving others. The Bible clearly indicates that He was financially stable and that He had all of His needs met over and above. That’s the thing we need to get a hold of before we take off flying in 2024… when we seek His kingdom first, everything we need will be taken care of. And, our desires and wants will also be met according to His will.
We may think we want something but God can see the end from the beginning. He knows exactly what will happen to us if we get that thing we’ve been praying for and it isn’t the right time or it just isn’t for us.
When we get down to it, I believe that all of us really don’t want something that isn’t God’s will or it isn’t the right time. This truth can definitely be hard for me- my personality is that when I have an idea in my head, I want to make it happen right away.
So much better for us to live in His timing and let things happen when and how God wants them to. There have been wonderful prophecies given this year about things that we’ve been doing unsuccessfully will begin to thrive. Personally, God shared with me that this is the year for more!
The “more” we will receive in 2024 isn’t just for us, though. My favorite passage is 2 Corinthians 9:8-11, and I want to bring to our attention the part about when we receive more what we are to do with it, “God can pour on the blessings in astonishing ways so that you’re ready for anything and everything, more than just ready to do what needs to be done. As one psalmist puts it,
He throws caution to the winds, giving to the needy in reckless abandon.His right-living, right-giving ways never run out, never wear out.
This most generous God who gives seed to the farmer that becomes bread for your meals is more than extravagant with you. He gives you something you can then give away, which grows into full-formed lives, robust in God, wealthy in every way, so that you can be generous in every way, producing with us great praise to God.”
When we are given something, it isn’t just for us to take and hide and never share. It might be that you were given something in 2023 but you just aren’t sure how God wants you to share it- that’s the boat I’m in, too. All we need to do is pray and ask God His plan for how to share it.
God does not want to withhold His plan for the good things He gives to us. While He doesn’t give us a blueprint for our lives, rather He leads us day by day, it’s so awesome to know that we can come “boldly to the throne” (Hebrews 4:16) and ask anything of our Heavenly Father.
My prayer for you this year is that you will enact the boldness that God has given you through His precious son, Jesus Christ, and not be afraid to ask big things.
With the right motive.
At the right time.
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