Same
Starting off a new year is always an interesting kind of experience for me. The promise of a new year is really wrapped up in that word—new. New days, new beginnings, new opportunities, those are the kinds of things that a new year seems to promise. But as the new year begins to take shape, most of the time we come to realize that the word that is most likely to characterize the new year is not new. The word that is most likely to characterize our new year is same—as in, pretty much the same as last year.
Same people, same stuff, same bills. And most importantly, same you.
And for me, as I settle in to the new year, that same-ness can be a little bit of a let-down sometimes. I think there’s always a part of me that starts off every new year thinking that this is the year that I conquer all my problems and maybe even get a flying car while I'm at it. But it never takes very long to figure out that that’s probably not how this year is going to go.
While I strongly encourage you to use the new year as an excuse to eject some bad things from your life, remember also that there are a few things about every year of your life that will always be the same. And surprisingly, if you’re looking for some real transformation in the new year, you might actually find it by focusing on the few things that will never change.
Here are two examples.
Number One: God Knows You. Always has, always will.
Number Two: You Are Kind of Awesome. Even if you don't believe it, it is still true.
Psalm 139 shows us one of the ways those two facts come together in the Bible. It starts by saying:
1 You have searched me, Lord,
and you know me.
2 You know when I sit and when I rise;
you perceive my thoughts from afar.
3 You discern my going out and my lying down;
you are familiar with all my ways.
4 Before a word is on my tongue
you, Lord, know it completely.
5 You hem me in behind and before,
and you lay your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too lofty for me to attain.
7 Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
10 even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.
11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light become night around me,”
12 even the darkness will not be dark to you;
the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you.
13 For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
It goes on from there, and I suggest you look it up and read it.
Here’s how these things that will always be the same can change your life:
The first unchanging fact is that God Knows You, perfectly and completely. One of the things that means is that you always have an audience, including for those parts of your life that you aren't too proud of. That should be a challenge for all of us. It also means that You Are Never Alone—that in all of those days and all of those times when you may feel like you have nothing and nobody, you actually do have something and somebody. You have God.
And He has always been there for you, and will always be there for you. And the fact that His presence in our lives will always be the same is a great reason to change our lives by putting our hope and our trust in Him instead of in the kinds of stuff we chose to trust in last year.
The second unchangeable fact is that You Are Awesome. That is what the Bible means when it says that we are fearfully and wonderfully made. Now don't get me wrong. I suspect that you've got plenty of dents and scratches on your life and in your soul. We all do. If we were all used cars on a lot somewhere, that would be a pretty rough-looking place. You might think that you are much better or much worse than other people, but the fact is that you are a sinner. Plain and simple. That’s us.
But still, we are kind of awesome. Still, we are fearfully and wonderfully made. And still, we are such a big deal to God that He sent Jesus to come into this world to rescue us. And no matter what happens, that’s not going to change. So maybe, just maybe, if you want your New Year to be truly new, then the key is to get very honest about the things that will always be the same and then intentionally shape your life around those truths.
Trust God because He is always there for you, and be awesome because that’s what He built you to be. If you get that, then your New Year is going to be new indeed. Even without the flying car.
