A New Year's Resolution

As we look ahead to 2022, one thing is sure, we cannot control all the outcomes.

 Here is fuel either for chronic anxiety or for a lifestyle of dependence. Open the Bible - image after image propels us to dependence. We need God - like a body needs a head, like a branch needs a vine, like a child needs a parent, like a river needs a source. Our next breath depends on God.

 Dependence is indispensable to holiness. Is that why the great biblical heroes are regularly faced with their weaknesses? Joseph, a cocky teenager, had two years in a dungeon; he emerged with a trust in God that enabled him to lead a nation. David learned dependence the hard way, fighting bears and lions in the desert with a few pebbles and a sling – that’s why he could go on to tackle a giant. Gideon was commanded by God to pare down his army – so that when it came to the battle, he depended on God.   

 It seems that the journey to dependence is never a five minute cab-ride. It involves being taken to the end of ourselves; that can be a long way. Too often, I want to choose my own route and end up astray. Always, God is tenderly inviting me to rely on his love.

 What does depending on God look like in practice? On the one hand, self-despair and on the other, looking to our loving Father. We can only dare to despair in ourselves and rejoice in weakness when, like Paul, we trust that God’s grace is enough (2 Cor 12:9).  Jesus perfectly illustrates this, “Very truly, I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing.”

 Jesus modelled a way of life that was constantly and attentively reliant on his Father’s prompting. When we do the same, wonderful things happen. Just this morning, I heard how someone I know collected a second-hand bookshelf last week and felt prompted to pray for the seller. She was deeply moved, explaining that her drinking was out of control. Today, she texted to say that she had stopped drinking since the prayer-time!

 I wonder how often we miss God’s prompts. The Father is always working but he waits for us to join in.

 That involves risk. For one person I spoke to, depending on God means walking into that room of intimidating people at work, trusting that all are loved. It means relying on God to be the source that makes us a blessing wherever we are, however broken or inadequate we feel.

 As you start this New Year, what could be a better resolution than the way of dependence? Unlike that new gym membership, it doesn’t depend wholly on you.

 The dependent life enables us to work from a place of rest. Not striving to win God’s approval but drawing from it. In the words of Andrew Murray, our faith is not troubled “with its own need or its weakness; it rests in the all-sufficient one who has undertaken all.” (Holiest of All, p146)

As we look ahead to 2022, we will all depend on something but only one thing will never fail us – our loving God. We can know and rely on the love of God.

This comes with my love and prayers as we start this New Year.

Kate

PS In case you missed it - here are some thoughts on Omnicron uncertainty!