“For You will light my lamp; The Lord my God will enlighten my darkness”
Psalms 18:28 NKJV
I want to specially welcome you to the new year. It is in the nature of man to anticipate new seasons in one area or the other. We talk about new seasons, plan ahead and excitedly look forward to the dawning of new seasons. One of such instances is the dawning of a new year. Our yearly calendar in this part of the earth runs for twelve months after which the cycle begins again. Over the years, we have truly associated a lot of importance around the transition between the previous year and the new year. In the world of believers, we place more importance to this subject because of the spiritual significance of new seasons as documented in the Bible.
There are countless stories in the Bible that depicts how the seasons of men changed positively and negatively and the role God Himself played in ordering their seasons. In the light of this, our first series in The Fire Place Blog will be on this subject of “Starting your new year with God.” In this series, we will consider the spoken word of God for us in this new season, the right response God is expecting from us as believers and finally, we will explore practical and biblically proven ways we can plan the new year and ensure it yields greater harvest than the years before. Are you ready for this journey? Get ready for the fire experience!
The momentum you build within to start any journey will determine the strength and health of that process.
It is a proven fact that it matters how you start a journey. The starting note of every journey or new experience matters a lot in the general outlook of how the journey will be viewed and accessed by the person going through the journey or the people around the person. I know you have been told many times that it doesn’t matter how you start; it is how you finish that matters. The whole truth is, it does matter how you start. The momentum you build within to start any journey will determine the strength and health of that process. Many people did not eventually succeed in their different life agendas simply because of a poor start.
No matter the wonder or beautiful memories you have painted in your mind to experience during a journey if your starting is poor, then everything might eventually end as a mere dream!
In the world of sports, an athlete can be disqualified for poor starting, if the athlete beats the gun twice. This depicts that, no matter the wonder or beautiful memories you have painted in your mind to experience during a journey if your starting is poor, then everything might eventually end as a mere dream! The Psalmist in our focus Bible passage for this post expressed a vulnerable outcry that wouldn’t have been expected from a great King like him. He made us realize that there is a lamp in every man that must be lighted by God without which no tangible success can be achieved. The second part of the verse says: “The Lord my God will enlighten my darkness.” There is a darkness in every man that only God can light up. The darkness here does not refer to the electricity supply in our physical world. The darkness being used here refers to the “ignorance of the heart.” A man can indeed be clueless about the next step to take on the journey to greatness. The Bible has made it clear through different verses and stories that on this side of the world, you don’t win by your own strength or wisdom but rather, you are empowered by God to succeed and do well in the journey of life. “…For by strength no man shall prevail” – 1 Samuel 2:9b
God has called us into a new relationship where He can be our SOURCE: meaning our source of life.
Why is it important to start your year with God?
God is more than a creator to us as believers. It is a fact that God has been encountered in various dimensions all through the Scriptures. He is known as the Provider, Healer, Defender, The One that Sees Us, and so on. In the midst of all these, in the new covenant sealed by the blood of Jesus on the cross, God has chosen to reveal Himself to all those who believe in the remission of sin brought by the death and resurrection of His only Son as OUR FATHER: “For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba! Father!”- Romans 8:15. The interpretation of the Greek word “Abba” used in this passage means SOURCE and SUSTAINER. This means God has called us into a new relationship where He can be our SOURCE: meaning our source of life, we draw strength to live our days from His written word. The other interpretation (SUSTAINER) means, beyond being the source and beginning of our lives, God is also the One that CARRIES us through every season of our lives. This is why it is very important and proper that as a child of God, the only wise way to start your year is to start it with God.
Commit your ways and plans to Him in prayer and meditation, before embarking on the journey of executing them during the year.
By starting your year with God, I mean that you should commit your ways and plans to Him in prayer and meditation, before embarking on the journey of executing them during the year. “I Will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you [who are willing to learn] with My eye upon you” – Psalms 32:8 AMP. This verse expresses the mind of God concerning the subject of seeking counsel before embarking on any journey in life. God is ready and waiting for you to inquire from Him about His plans for you and how you are meant to journey through the seasons of your life. Starting out your journey without God is an act of outright disobedience to God. My question for you at this point is this: Since you have been making your own decisions and living your life on your own, have you been able to achieve all your heart desires? Have you been living a fulfilled life? In the case of death occurring now, can you stand before God and be judged WELL DONE, considering the way you have lived your life in the years before now. God is speaking expressly to your heart as you read this post. If your journey this year will not result the same way last year’s did, it is time to build according to God’s pattern. Enough of doing life on your own. It doesn’t matter for how long you have claimed to know God and even work for God in the Church, if you are still living your life without receiving counsel from God about how to journey through your year, you are not making Him happy. This is a fresh chance to right your wrong, kneel before Him in total repentance and make a decision to start your year with God, this time around!
“For You will light my lamp; The Lord my God will enlighten my darkness”
Finally, as I wrap up this episode, there are men and women whose stories in the Scriptures and modern history depicted that they followed this ancient pattern of starting out with God before embarking on their different endeavors in their journey through life. In the book of 1 Samuel, in the days when David was running from the agenda of King Saul to kill him, David learned to inquire from God before going out for any battle. In 1 Samuel 23:2 “Therefore David inquired of the LORD, saying, “shall I go and attack these Philistines?” David would never go to battle without asking from God first and seeking the right strategy for the battle, and he always returned back with victory. There is no known record of David ever losing a battle in the Bible! He mastered the art of starting out with God and as a result, lived a life of flawless result! Moses, the Prophet of God who led the Israelites out of the land of Egypt is very known for his desperate prayer of plea to God, still on this subject of starting out with God: “Then Moses said to Him, “if your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here” – Exodus 33:15.
God’s response to man whenever He is involved in our plans and journey is always supernatural!
God indeed answered Moses and journeyed with them. Their journey of 40 years through the wilderness is a story every believer must learn from. Despite being a generation that did not truly follow God in their hearts, because Moses knew the Lord and passionately sought hard after God in intercession and in devotion, he had this testimony in the passage below in his generation: “Whenever the cloud was taken up from above the tabernacle, the children of Israel would go onward in all their journeys. But if the cloud was not taken up, then they did not journey till the day that it was taken up. For the cloud of the LORD was above the tabernacle by day, and the fire was over it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel, throughout all their journeys.” – Exodus 40:36-38. What a testimony! God’s response to man whenever He is involved in our plans and journey is always supernatural! God taught the world a powerful lesson through the obedience and submission of Moses by physically ordering their steps all through their journeys in the days of Moses. Beloved, this is the mind of God for you in this season. In the next episode, we shall discuss the biblically proven ways of starting the journey with God. What is your response to God today? Will you start your year with God? Remain blessed!