Let me (Tracy) be one of the first to wish you a Happy New Year! In the season of resolutions we may keep ─or not─ we wondered if any of you might be looking for a do over. Will 2017 be the year that helps you live differently than you did before? Will THIS be the year that thing you’ve always done becomes something you never do again?
At the core of things, isn’t that what a New Year’s resolution is? I desire to do something better, perhaps to BE better in some way. The whole idea of a do over, or even a New Year’s resolution, seems to be rooted in regret. If only.
If only I could lose that last ten pounds.
If only I could carry out my calling without wanting to check out when it gets too hard.
If only I could hold my tongue when it wants to wag faster than a dog’s tail.
If only I could forget the hurtful words said to me, expunge them from my brain forever.
If only they’d never been said in the first place.
Maybe if only I’d never said them to someone else.
If only that goal I’ve longed to achieve was finally met.
If only the goal didn’t matter so much.
If only I’d never stumble again in the stinky, miry mess of my sin.
If only.
Right about now you may be wondering, what’s so happy about this post ushering in the new year. Hang in there. We’ll circle around like the second hand of a clock clicking around close to midnight. Time will usher in the HAPPY of this message about needing a do over.
Here’s the thing. We all make mistakes. The key is not to live in them, or let them limit the way we live. Each of us has a high calling. We’re called to glorify God, and we can’t do that if we are plunked down in a sea of regret longing for a do over.
When we don’t get it right (and we won’t always), we repent. We turn from sin and turn to our Daddy who loves us in spite of our sinful nature.
We accept God’s forgiveness and we move forward. Because that’s what He wants us to do. He’s a God who gives us chances. Lots and lots of chances, because He knows He’s in the process of changing us at His pace and through His grace.
Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and STRAINING toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. All of us, then, who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you.─Philippians 3:13-15 NIV (capitalization emphasis mine)
The Greek word for straining is epekteinō which means to extend, to stretch forward, reaching forward.₁
We’re not called to reach back and take hold. We’re called to forget about those regrets, to forget about the sin (ours and others) that wants to entangle us. Instead, we’re commanded to stretch forward as if we’re a third basemen trying to get the game winning out. Reach for it. Because it matters.
We’re called to reach forward, because that’s where the prize is located. Our view as mature believers in Christ should be that facing forward gaze that looks to where our Heavenly Father is guiding us. Where we are going. Not where we have gone.
At some point, we need to think differently than the world. The promise in Scripture: God will make it clear to us. He’ll show us the view, the vantage point, He wants us to gaze at a thing from.
What if God is using our lack to show us things about ourselves? What if God is using our lack to show us things about Himself? On both accounts, He is.
What if our desire for a do over is really pointing to something God wants to help us deal with?
I’ll let you sit with that question for a minute.
What if our desire for a do over is really pointing to something God wants to help us deal with?
The song “Blessings” is playing right now in my earphones. What if the trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise?
What if.
Sometimes, if you’re anything like me, it takes a bit to understand a reaction. Why did that bother me so? Why is that thing (or that person) hitting a nerve? What is it about that proverbial last straw that says, I can’t take another thing? It’s not the last straw that set you on edge. It’s everything that has led up to that, layer by layer, until there’s a signal God allows through that says enough is enough.
Sometimes, He’s showing us a need not being met in our desire for a do over.
Certainly, our need for Him in all things. Like King David, we cry out to the Lord.
Hear me, LORD, and answer me,
for I am poor and needy.
Guard my life for I am faithful to you;
save your servant who trusts in you.
You are my God; have mercy on me, Lord,
for I call to you all day long.
─Psalm 86:1-3 NIV
Every day would be a day I’d regret if I didn’t have God and didn’t know I could call out to Him in my need. I have great need for His mercy, grateful His mercies are new every day (Lamentations 3:22-23)─and that I don’t have to wait for a new year to roll around for them to come again.
I love King David and his example. He gives me hope. Even in his sin, he called himself a faithful servant of the Lord. A servant who trusted God. Even in my sin, I can call myself a faithful servant of the Lord. A servant who trusted God. So can you. More of God’s mercy dispensed to His kids who want to do well, but don’t always.
Even while we are meeting the needs of others (perhaps more so) God wants to make sure our needs are being met. If we ignore the signals, He’ll allow them to get louder. It’s part of His merciful plan to turn up the volume.
That’s not My best for you.
That’s NOT My best for you!
THAT’S NOT MY BEST FOR YOU!
My best for you looks like boundaries and margin. Not doing more, but less.
The boundaries and the margin are for me, needs God wants to meet in my life. Maybe that’s not your issue, the thing God is trying to give you His best in.
But what is His best for you this new merciful day early in 2017? What is He revealing He wants you to possess, so you can be your best? Remember our high calling as believers? We are to reveal His glory. Embracing His goodness, letting Him fill us with His love when we are empty, allowing Him to lead and guide our life─really, fully, all the way … even when it’s hard.
What is God showing you in your need for a do over? What good does He want to bring forth like the rising of the sun on a fresh, new day as He helps you elevate higher?
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₁Thomas, R. L. (1998). New American Standard Hebrew-Aramaic and Greek dictionaries : updated edition. Anaheim: Foundation Publications, Inc.