2011 REFLECTIONS; WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN; WHAT WAS; WHAT IS TO COME

The worn calendar of 2011 has come to the end of its usefulness; there are no more pages to be turned and only 3 more days to mark off.  It is time for reflection on “What could have been; what was, and what is to come.” 

It really began December 31, 2010, celebrating with many people I love and had come to love.  Yes, where else?  CHURCH!!!  I love being in a church service on New Year’s Eve.  It is so joyful, so full of promise.  There is always great food, fellowship and so much love; this service was all that and more.  The music was beautiful; the worship dynamic, Steve preached a “forward-looking” sermon and presented the agenda for the coming year.  The power of God fell in the service, people were renewed in the Spirit and we had the general feeling that “God was well pleased.”  My humanness reflects and says, “If only it had ended there,” but my spirit man understands I still need some “testing and proving.”

I hear so many people expressing how happy they will be to wave goodbye to 2011 and welcome 2012 as the clock strikes midnight.  Really, does a minute in time or a page on a calendar make the difference?  Or is it all the experiences over the last 525,600 minutes of 2011 that will carry you into 2012 with a different perspective.

Once again in human terms, 2011 was not one of my best years.  It was full of tears, brokenhearted nights, unbelievable stress, depression, previously, unexperienced health problems, endless hours on my knees, answered and unanswered questions.  In spiritual terms, however, 2011 was a GREAT year, full of blessing and amazing encounters with God.  It is not the EXPERIENCE that makes the difference; it is how you “COME OUT” on the other side of the experience.  What did I learn?  How did I handle the situation?  Have I been changed into the person God needs me to be?  Or, am I bitter?  Do I blame everyone including God?  Have I become vindictive?  Will I remain unchanged and have to go through the “fire” again?

Reflections on what I have learned in 2011

When God says, “I will never leave you or forsake you,” He means it.  The distance between you and God can increase only if you move away.

Always go into the year with anticipation and dreams but be willing to allow God to shape, mold and change the dream.  Realize that there was nothing wrong with your dream; it may remain unfulfilled due to timing, outside circumstances or uncooperativeness.

Remain soft and pliable in the Master’s Hands.  It may be tempting to put up a shell to avoid being hurt again but nothing hurts worse than God breaking through the shell to get to our heart.

Faith is not just asking, believing it hard enough, and then receiving it.  Faith is praying about the situation, believing that God is well able, accepting that the outcome is in God’s hands, and LEAVING it there.

And finally My Friends; Trust in the promises of God; Ask Him to show you everything He is trying to teach you in the midst of the storm; Rest in His peace; and Allow Him to choose the ending blessing.

As the clock strikes midnight, closing out a year of unbelievable heartache and unbelievable blessing, I carry a resolve into 2012.  I resolve to enjoy every moment, whether through laughter or tears, knowing God is working.  I resolve to let the Love of God shine brighter through my life than ever before as I walk out in a dark world.  I resolve to seek after, listen to and follow as God leads me down the path He has prepared for me to walk in.  I resolve to LAUGH LOUDER, JUMP HIGHER and PRAISE MORE FERVENTLY than I did in 2011.