At the beginning of each year, many people make resolutions concerning how they can make their lives better in the coming year. Oftentimes, as life gets in the way, the resolutions fall by the wayside. This year, I would like to offer a different suggestion. Include God in your thoughts about how you could make your life better. Scripture is filled with instructions and encouragement. One of the main concepts is that if you put God first in your life, everything will fall into place, your life will be much better, and you will have peace. You may have some troubles, but with God leading you, He will give you the strength to persevere. May God lead you and guide you in all your endeavors during this coming year.
One prayer you might say is, “Lord, I know You have a great plan for my life. I want to be open to receiving and participating in that plan. Help me to trust in You and not lean on my own understanding. Show me Your ways. You said that You would give me the desires of my heart. Please help me to line up those desires with Your plans for me. Thank you, Lord, for leading me and guiding me in all that I do. I pray in Jesus’ name.”
As I was preparing this post, I wondered what would make me happy and what steps or changes in behavior I would have to implement. I made a list. It is not overwhelming, but it does require commitment and living on purpose. So, I need to make the choice to live intentionally. I’m still working on the implementation of those ideas. I share this in case it would be a help to you.
Then I reflected on a time when I was trying to identify who I was. It was right after my divorce. I had played a variety of roles during the marriage, but then I wondered, “Who is Fran?” I couldn’t think of anything except that I believed that I was a loving person, so I wrote that on the top of a page. Instantly, I thought, if I am such a loving person, why is my life falling apart. I decided to see what God had to say about love, so I looked in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8, 13. As I read God’s definition of love, I realized that I wasn’t really a loving person at all, so I crossed off what I wrote about myself and was left with a blank sheet of paper. Through the years, God has helped me grow in this capacity of love and my life has been better that I could have ever imagined since that time.
The lessons I learned are:
1. That you really need to be honest with yourself about your motives, behaviors, and beliefs about yourself and others.
2. That when you put God first in your life, He helps put everything in order, fills all your needs and gives you peace beyond understanding.
3. You can trust God to take care of you.
4. When you live intentionally, you get a lot more accomplished.
I hope that these suggestions will be a help to you as you begin this year towards living a more fulfilling life.
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