Happy New Year, conclusion

"Get real, mom!" and the teenager's eyes rolled, as she implored her mom to think seriously about an issue. In other words, don't just look on the surface. Don't employ wishful thinking. Be realistic. Be practical. Be real.
New Year's resolutions can be a quagmire of "keep it real" situations, can't they? How many times do we resolve to lose that pesky ten (or twenty, or thirty) pounds? But are we really ready to do what it takes?
How many times have we mouthed the words, "I want to spend more time reading my Bible," or "Increasing my prayer times is a priority this year." But are we motivated?
Are we keeping it real?
We can be successful with our resolutions if we follow a strategy. Wishing on a star? Nope, won't help it happen. If God has laid some things on our hearts that need to change, there are two steps that can help guide us through the year.

First, pick ONE big thing for the new year. Reaching and striving for too many giant changes at once will set us up for failure. If we put our pen to paper and come up with ten things to work on this year, only one should be a big life change . . . the others should complement the big one, or maintain the work we did last year on some resolutions.

Secondly, try to see the year in steps. Are there steps in different areas of our lives that can lead eventually to that big change we have written down? Think about lots of categories: friendships, education, hobbies, careers, finances . . . . see if we can add a small goal to some of those areas.

Here is an example: Let's say I feel like the Spirit is encouraging me to spend more time in prayer and study. My one big goal could be to increase my time to forty-five minutes daily. Now, what are some smaller things that can complement that one?
Perhaps enjoying the search and the trying of some new slow cooker recipes, to free up some time?
How about streamlining my laundry process to gain a few minutes?
Maybe I need to be motivated to carve out some time that should be lower priority, like a few minutes of global news watching, and add that to my study time?

How about if the Spirit has laid on my heart the need to get healthier in the new year. Maybe my one big goal is to be able to compete in a marathon . . . . my smaller goals could complement that: maybe write down that I need to eat more protein, be faithful to take vitamins, and to drink more water!

You get the picture. We pray and we commune with God; we tell Him that we want what He wants for our lives. Our prayerful dialogue will guide our taking paper to pen and making real resolutions. We will find it easier to "keep it real."

Lastly, we need to be open to adjustments. To tweaking.
Huh?
Well, human imperfection riddles our lives. But God permeates life in an "indescribable" way that reflects His love and His goodness. If we run into a bump in the road (which we will) or a frustrating delay along our path (which will happen), it's perfectly OK to pray and adjust the path of our progress.
It's a lot better to talk to God about it and tweak our goal, than it is to "cut and run." Or quit altogether.
Our dreams are God-placed goals, but the end results (that He already knows) don't always look like the dreams that we so blithely began with! Staying in constant check with the progress we are making, and talking daily to Him about our progress helps us to see things clearly.

You see, progress can sometimes feel like failure!
Long ago, a young pastor named Timothy was surrounded by a congregation of believers who were losing their focus on Christ. His mentor, Paul, wrote to him:

Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.  (II Timothy 2:15)

He reminded Timothy that even though he might have many big and lofty goals for the church, his primary focus needed to be within himself, and how he would present himself to God. Timothy may have written to Paul about the false teachers, about the believers who had stopped coming to the worship times, and about how he wasn't making progress on his heartfelt goals. Paul counseled him to adjust.
We may not all be called to preach the gospel or to pastor a group of believers, but we are ALL called to share and reflect God's love daily. We can walk through life with this thought: we are loved and accepted by God for who we are right now. That will enable His will to flow freely in our lives . . .
Failures will look less like dead-ends and more like U-turns that save us from making dire mistakes. Successes will reveal God's Spirit encouraging us, and helping us to persist -- helping us to pull through hard times, sometimes miraculously!

Life is hard. But Jesus has conquered it. As long as our hand is in His, life ends in eternity, in the place He has prepared for us. Let's focus on the joyful work that we are called to do for Him until He does call us home. We were made in His image -- let's celebrate as we begin this new year!