So many of us start the New Year thinking of ways we can better ourselves, kick bad habits, or have a fresh start. We like to lay out goals that we believe are good for us. Eating healthier, exercising more, changing a bad habit, becoming a better person—and these are good things! I know in my own life I start making long lists of things I believe will make my life better. What I want for my future.
I have always tried so hard to plan it all out. Controlling what I could was a way I could deal with the crushing anxiety I dealt with for many years. So, even when it came the things in my life I thought would be positive changes, or good things I wanted, I was never willing to slow down enough to sit and be still and ask God what He values most. If I didn’t stop and sit with Him long enough to hear what He wants for me, I didn’t have to hear “no”. I could stay in the driver’s seat. I could just keep striving and pushing for things I thought were best and then I’d feel safe with my little plan.
A lot of times these plans appear to be good—getting married, going to school, buying a house, having a baby, losing weight, changing careers. Any of these can be good and wonderful things to want. But I can look back in my own life and see where I stubbornly bulldozed ahead with what I wanted without stopping for a deep breath and to ask myself what God really values, or why I want those things. Am I just trying to fill empty spaces in my life with other people, a family or a new job? With material things? It took me many years and many hard lessons to learn that those things do not fill in us what only Jesus can. They just don’t. Even when I was blessed with so many wonderful things in my life I wanted, they didn’t fulfill the longing in my heart, because what I really wanted was a connection with God.
This year, I am facing a life that has been turned completely upside down, which brings a lot of exciting opportunities for change and growth. But as I pursue these things I want, I am determined to ask God what He would have me do, and to slow down and ask myself what I really value.
As you are inspired with ideas and changes you want to make this year, stop and ask yourself what you really want, and what God values most. When we seek His kingdom first (Matthew 6:33), He gives us more than we could even imagine.
“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” – Matthew 6:33 (NIV)
NEXT STEP: One Word That Will Change Your Life
Here’s one way to seek God on what His desire for you is this year! Here is a 4-day reading plan that shows how you can cut to the core of all your good intentions for 2020 and create a practical, ONE WORD vision! Let's do this! https://www.bible.com/…/809-one-word-that-will-change-your-…