This is the day!

This is the day the Lord has made; I will rejoice and be glad in it. Psalm 118:24

At the beginning of the year, I received a calendar from a vendor I work with.  As I looked through the pages I wondered what would happen this year.  While I do have some plans, most of the days, just like in the calendar, are blank.

About a week later I read a devotional that said to imagine getting a package in the mail on January 1st and in that package was a personalized calendar.  Each day of the year was already filled in with every event, emotion, and activity that would take place in your life throughout the year. 

It noted when you would be late for work. The grade you would receive on your test at school.  Major victories as well as humbling defeats.   Along with all the big stuff it also included the names of every person who would cross your path, not a single detail was missing.

Most of us would love to have that kind of knowledge, but the truth is, we will never get a calendar like that because it would take away from our relationship with God. We would spend our time trying to manipulate outcomes and worry about details instead of trusting Him, and we would try to avoid the very challenges and trials that would bring us closer to God.  

The truth is that God already knows all the details and He wants to be present with us every moment of every day as He guides us through them.

He has placed you right here, right now with great purpose.  You live in this time of history, in this community, in your family, and are at this church for a reason.   In His Word, God has said that He knows the plans He has for you (Jeremiah).  In the Psalms, He said that all your days were written in His book before one of them came into being.  Your relationship with Him is uniquely your own and you were created with Godly purpose to reach people for Christ that nobody else can.

So instead of imagining a detailed calendar, let’s hear what God’s Word has to say about the New Year:

“Do not be afraid of the places that I will take you, for I AM a mighty God.  My ways are not your ways and MY thoughts are not your thoughts.  I have called you for this moment in time.  Walk boldly into the future, for I hold the future, and I AM the future.  Fear not what will happen, for I will provide, and I will provide beyond your wildest dreams.  I have called you to a ministry beyond anything you can imagine, and even as it begins to unfold, your thoughts cannot comprehend all that I have called you to do, so do not try to think ahead of Me, but only walk with My plans and My purpose, and I will reveal them step by step, day by day.  Do not be afraid.  You can walk confidently, for I the Lord your God have surrounded you with my love. Do not look back, and do not fear.  Be strong and courageous.  I know what lies ahead and I am with you.”

I pray that as you walk through this new year, you will remember who you are…..A Daughter of The King! And that your relationship with God will overflow the pages of each day so that there will not be enough room to write all that He has done. Have a very blessed year in Him!