MERIDIAN — “Bury every fear of the future, of poverty, suffering, loss..

Bury all thought of unkindness and bitterness, your dislikes, your resentments, your sense

of failure…

And go forward to a new and risen life.”

— God Calling

 

   The Christmas trees are down, red bows have disappeared from mailboxes, and shouts of “Happy New Year!” are fading. We are left with a brand-new year, a new beginning with a fresh unspoiled space of time stretching out before us.

    For me, it’s both exciting and frightening; there are fewer years remaining on my earthly calendar now, and I don’t want to spoil this fresh new page. I don’t believe in luck or magic or “whatever will be, will be.” I believe in work and faith and heavenly guidance. I believe that God has made me responsible for my own happiness. Even more strongly, I believe that He has put me in my corner of the world for a purpose. He wants me to cooperate with Him in lighting a few candles that chase away some darkness.

    Therefore, my New Year’s resolutions must be more like prayer requests than staunch resolves. Failure results when I launch out in my own effort. For instance, I resolve to take a walk everyday, but if the next day is cold and raining, I’m searching for a cozy spot to nest. I also resolve to write encouraging words that inspire, and then I spend a couple of days typing words into my computer and deleting every single one. My resolves are worth nothing, absolutely nothing, when I depend on my own willpower.

    But since every day is a chance to begin again, I will sit down and write myself into this New Year. I’ll write a letter to the Lord, confessing my sins of the past year, my procrastination, my lack of discipline, and the fact that I didn’t live up to the resolutions I made last year. I’ll tell Him again about my hopes and dreams and ask Him to start me on a new path of becoming all I can be in this world.

    And after I’ve written my journal letter, I’ll read again from a favorite old book with worn yellowing pages: I stand between the years. The light of My Presence is flung across the year to come. Backward, over the past year, is My Shadow thrown, hiding trouble and sorrow and disappointment.

    Dwell not on the past—only on the present.

    I hold the year in My Hands…I shall guide you one day at a time. For each day I shall supply the wisdom and strength. –-God Calling, Published 1949

 

    Virginia Dawkins’ stories and devotionals have been published in a series of Cup of Comfort books. She and her husband are life-long residents of Meridian. You may contacted her at jtdawk06@aol.com