It seems in this culture we like to make Resolutions…
Why do you think we make resolutions?
I think it’s about renewal…a hope to remake or renew something about us, right?
I know I long to be organized. I fantasize about being organized. I’ve bought many a planner and the expensive filler pages that go along with them. I sit up at night looking at the internet, longing for those containers that promise they are going to FINALLY make sense out of my sock drawer! Or keep every lid I own neatly stored and at the ready. Every year, when it turns to the next, I think this is my year! THIS is the year I’m actually going to put the things that the lids say are in this container …IN THAT CONTAINER!
But I don’t. I get rushed, run out of time, lose interest…(squirrel) and by December 31st I am no more organized than I was the year before…sigh.
Webster’s dictionary says this about renewal:
the state of being made new, fresh, or strong again: the state of being renewed
The truth is, many of us want a more meaningful change in our lives than thinking about buying a few more containers to put our crap in. I think many of us are thinking about shifting the direction of our life because what’s been happening isn’t working. We are no longer on the road we want to be on.
This need for renewal, refreshment, being made new…is a real need.
…many of us feel like if we could just start over again…maybe this time, we would get it right…
Most of us feel it deep down at some point in our life. It’s just there.
We’re not sure why, but we know we’ve got to do something with that need. I think many of us feel like if we could just start over again…maybe this time, we would get it right… Remember that God is in the renewal business; God’s whole message is one of renewal.
I believe that true renewal happens only through a relationship with Jesus. All other attempts are in vain. At least this is what I’ve found in my own life. Think about it, if all these other things satisfied us and renewed us, we wouldn’t need to keep trying new things. I’ve found the thing that satisfies my need for renewal. And it isn’t linked to people or places or emotions. It doesn’t ebb and flow. I’ve become satisfied to the point of knowing on am on the path of renewal, I just want to keep moving forward.
I want you to think about it, examples of refreshment and rebirth are everywhere. Right now, we are in the midst of winter, but seasons roll in and out, as do the tides, and spring will be here soon. Flowers bud, bloom and fade — and bud anew, all this beginning through b r o k e n earth.
God wants you and I to renew ourselves. What “flowers” will you let God produce through your broken earth this year?
Danene K. Shumaker 