This year, God’s in charge

Ah February, the graveyard of New Year’s resolutions. OK, for some it’s pat-on-the-back month. A friend of mine, who before becoming a Christian never made goals for herself, is so proud of hers this year that she wants to get everyone doing the same. At a gathering in mid-December she asked us all to state our goals. I said: ‘I do not have a goal for myself other than to follow where God leads me.’ I sound a bit worthier than thou, don’t I? And I must have seemed strange to her because she asked me again, just after Christmas.

I realised in 2017 that believing in Jesus means being set free – from fear, from guilt and shame, from your past – so you can discover who you are in Christ. So I am not buying into ‘dry January’. No mad dashes to gym. No Veganuary for me.

These are not bad choices in themselves, but I’ve done them before and spent February to April giving myself a hard time for failing at them. This January has been, for me, a quiet reflection upon the year before. What I achieved, what I learnt, what I struggled with, what challenges I faced and still need to face. A time to sit, hibernate (as creation would suggest) and let the lessons from before guide me on the next step. I wanted to stay in gratitude at the miracle of Jesus, the Word incarnate, rather than rush forward with stuff about me, me, me…

Commitment-Phobe is a new Christian

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This is an extract from an article that was published in the February 2018 edition of  Reform

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