Happy 2022! It’s resolution time. Perhaps you’ll make the very popular resolution: “I’ll never make another New Year’s resolution.” Deep down, we know it’s hard to make a declaration about the future — and life pushes hard to keep us from living into them anyway. Cynicism aside, I want to lift up the good old resolution as a worthy practice.
First, we all need to make changes. That may be hard to admit, much less to make public in some way. There is great power in confession — to ourselves, to God, to others. Owning up to our failures, disappointments, and shortcomings can be a first step on the road to something much better.
Second, the turn of the calendar is a good opportunity for assessment. It’s a natural season to ask important questions. This time of year reminds me of a promise from Hosea: “Sow for yourselves righteousness, reap the fruit of unfailing love, and break up your unplowed ground; for it is time to seek the Lord, until he comes and showers righteousness on you.” (Hos. 10:12) The picture the prophet paints makes sense even if you didn’t grow up on a farm. The more land you put into production, the more bountiful the harvest. How many of us are living our lives like frozen winter fields? What proportion of your life is producing something of value to God? How much “unplowed ground” can be broken up in the coming year — and what will it take to break it open? The turn of a year is a good time to ask.
Third, the new year is an appropriate time to lean into the future. Sure, we might fail in what we set out to do. However, if we fear failure so much that we never set higher expectations for our lives, we’re guaranteeing an outcome that seems remarkably familiar. Failure is never the “end of ends” that we sometimes believe. If we press on in God’s care, remarkable things might happen.
Finally, the new year is the time to renew our reliance on God’s grace. Living by grace begins by trusting God’s help. As Paul wrote: “I can do everything through Christ who gives me strength.” (Phil. 4:13) God’s strength was his strength through pain or joy, failure or accomplishment.
Perhaps this year’s resolutions could sound more like prayerful petitions than bold claims of your own will. As we live into 2022, here is my prayer for us all:
Lord Jesus, I know that we’re all going to need a lot of help to change. So right now I place myself, my family, my church, and this world in your hands. Break up the hard ground, guard my heart and mind from fear, and lead me to a deeper trust in you. Amen.
Happy New Year,
Grace and Peace,