This picture is from my run this morning. The trees that just a few weeks ago held leaves of various colors now all have empty branches. It’s as if the trees themselves are celebrating the New Year with the shedding of the old in order to welcome in the new. A fresh start!
I love the thought of a new year with new beginnings. The thought brings hope for growth and change. What new things will you embrace this year in your walk with Jesus?
I don’t do New Year’s Resolutions in the traditional way, but I incorporate my “resolutions” into our Christmas celebration. I think of my goals for the new year as a gift of obedience that I bring to the Lord, and that is my birthday gift to Jesus. Some years I do better at fulfilling my commitment than others. What gift of obedience is God is asking of you this year?
Lately God has been leading me into some new ventures—things to stretch my faith and help me learn to trust Him more. As I look back at other faith-stretching experiences in the past, I see the journey He has had me on—a journey that reflects His goodness and mercy in my life.
His goodness and mercy stand out as an antithesis to some heavy baggage that I carried for years. I had so many leaves I didn’t want to shed. Ugly leaves fertilized by the enemy’s lies stuck to my life like glue, preventing new growth from occurring. I don’t know what baggage you are carrying from the past, but the new year is a perfect time to let go of it. Like the trees have shown us, new growth can’t come until you let go of the old.
The enemy doesn’t want you to let go of it. He wants to keep you chained to regret, sorrow, or shame from the past. His plan is to “steal and kill and destroy,” (John 10:10a). He wants to steal your joy, to kill the fulfillment of God’s purpose in your life, and to destroy your peace. But Jesus came to stop Him! “The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work,” (I John 3:8).
Jesus came to stop the destruction from the enemy in your life. I have to ask you…Are you still letting it happen? Are you still listening to His lies?
“I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full,” (John 10:10b). Jesus speaks truth over us and wants us to experience the fullness of walking with Him in a new way by letting go of the old.
I used to beat myself up because I thought that as a Christian I was supposed to forget the past, and I had some painful memories that I just couldn’t seem to forget. I mean…Isn’t that what Paul was saying in Philippians 3:13? When I read, “Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead,” I would chastise myself for not being able to forget the past as Paul seemed to be doing. The leaves of regret stayed on my tree, keeping me from moving forward with God.
God eventually showed me the real meaning of that passage. God doesn’t expect us to just forget our pain. But He doesn’t want us to stay there. He doesn’t want us to focus on it so much that we lose sight of Him. He wants to have such preeminence in our lives that anything that held value for us in the past loses its value in comparison to Him. Paul says in the following verse, “I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus,” (Philippians 3:14).
He is our goal. And when we are moving toward that goal, everything else fades in comparison. In that growing process, He gently removes those ugly leaves off our trees. He replaces them with new leaves of healing and restoration, bringing ministry and purpose.
What leaves on your tree need to be removed? What leaves bring you purpose and an opportunity for ministry? What leaves can bring glory to Him?
If you just let them fall, leaf by leaf…the beauty of spring will come.
“See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?” (Isaiah 43:19
The Goal
Lord, I read it in the scriptures—
“Forget what is behind.”
So I smother painful memories
In locked closets in my mind.
Sometimes those memories creep out,
But every time they come,
I detach myself from feeling,
So emotions can grow numb.
I press on to walk with Jesus,
But as I’m straining toward the goal,
It’s hard to ignore the gaping wound
In the middle of my soul!
But, Lord, I thought I’d been made new!
Why does this pain still last?
I must be a weak-kneed Christian
To still struggle with my past.
But You see me with compassion
As I pretend that all is fine,
And you whisper the true meaning of
“Forget what is behind.”
…To forget my former trophies,
Things once held in high esteem…
I’m to count them loss for the sake of Christ
For a glory yet unseen.
For in placing higher value
On the goal to know my Christ,
Pursuing Him with passion,
I find You, Lord, as my prize.
I see now how misled I’ve been
To trust in my own denial.
As you walk the valleys with me, Lord,
Your love can reconcile.
I’ve only made things worse
Each time I heap on self-contempt
Because I’ve tried to “forget the past”
But failed at each attempt.
I’ve learned Your plan is not for me
To bury what I’m feeling.
You’ve a greater journey planned—
It’s called the path to hope and healing.
Anything that hangs me up,
Keeping me from liberation,
Should be brought to You and not denied—
You’re a God of restoration.
Oh, Lord, open all the closets
That stayed locked within my soul,
So that nothing else can hinder me
From You, Lord…You, my goal.
-Bobbie Perkins