2016 - An Opportunity to "RESET"

As we enter another year in just a few days, I (Dawn) am thankful for a fresh opportunity to reset my priorities and goals. In fact, "reset" is my focus word for 2016, and the topic of this New Year's UPGRADE.

We reset diamonds, reset odometers, reset alarm clocks, but—praise the Lord—we can also reset our lives.

To reset is to "set again" or to "set differently." I'm going to do both.

In 2015, I turned 65. I'm well into the "I want to finish well" stage of life. Whether the Lord gives me 30+ more years or fewer, I want to honor and serve Him with all my heart.

"Well done, good and faithful servant" (Matthew 25:21). "Good and faithful servant" isn't just something I want to hear someday. It's what I want to practice being now.

This past summer, I lamented my advancing age and wondered if God could use me in the coming years. I basically wimped out, weeping, and two Christian women, Anita and Yvonne, had to "prop me up" again with truth from God's Word.

But I couldn't sleep that night. And in the middle of the night, the thoughts that came—could they have been from the Lord?—became my marching orders for the next "however many" years.

At the end of next month (Jan. 21, 26 and 28), I'll be writing more about the three fresh goals I believe God gave me for finishing well, but for now, I just want to list them because they are a huge part of my "reset":

1. Take Courage.

2. Build Strength.

3. Embrace Freedom.

I believe I need a major "reset" in all three of those areas, and I'm going to study these topics all through 2016 in Bible study, scripture memory, prayer and meditation.

But don't get me wrong. It's not about better self-effort!

I'm very aware that no lasting "reset" can happen without God working in and through my life. It's all about Him and what He wants to do ... or not do.

He may hijack my plans and send me in directions I can't imagine right now ... and that's fine with me too, because He's in charge and I trust Him. And I just need to be ready to move forward with Him.

The verse I've chosen for 2016 is Isaiah 43:19:

"Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert." (ESV) (*See my note at the end.)

Yes indeed. We may experience dry seasons, but God gives us many fresh opportunities to reset our lives.

Think about it:

• Some embrace New Year's resolutions as a way to jumpstart the year.
• Some evaluate the year just past and make new goals.
• Some, like me, choose a word for focus and change.
• When you think about it, every Sunday is an opportunity to reset as we come together around God's Word and then listen and apply.
• Even better, every morning—as we consider God's faithfulness to us—we can rejoice in a new day to repent of sins and reset our commitment to faith and obedience to God.

The truth is, the Father and the Holy Spirit are working within all of God's children at every moment to make the biggest reset of all: 

• He is sanctifying our lives (John 17:17; 1 Corinthians 6:11; 1 Thessalonians 5:23; 2 Thessalonians 2:13; 2 Timothy 2:21; Hebrews 10:14) ... and as a result,
• He is making us more like the Son, Jesus (Romans 8:28-29; 2 Corinthians 3:16-18; Galatians 2:20).

For many years, I've thanked God for the wonder of His grace in giving me the desire and ability to cooperate with the Holy Spirit as He changes my mind and heart. It's been exciting to see God at work.

Are you grateful too?

Thank God for each reset opportunity!

What is God asking you to "reset" this year?

* [Note regarding Isaiah 43:19 - While the context of this verse is the prophecy of God (Israel's only Savior, vv. 11, 15) planning to deliver His people from Babylon, it speaks to me in a powerful way too. It reminds me our Creator God is always doing "new things" in our lives so we can honor and serve Him even better as we are enabled by the Holy Spirit. We simply need to be alert and ready to obey Him!]

Dawn Wilson, founder and president of Heart Choices Today, is the creator of three blogs: Heart Choices Today, LOL with God (with Pam Farrel), and Upgrade with Dawn. She is the Director of the San Diego chapter of Network of Evangelical Women in Ministry (NEWIM). Dawn is the co-author of a devotional, LOL with God, and contributed "The Blessing Basket" in It's a God Thing. She and her husband Bob have two grown, married sons, three granddaughters and a rascally maltipoo, Roscoe. 

Graphic Adapted: Image courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net.

Comments

[Mikki Volz]

Thanks for writing this blog on our opportunity to reset our lives and hearts before the Lord. I look forward to your future articles about courage, strength, and freedom!