So, Christmas 2008 is done for me. I've got a couple of things to return, and the decorations still have to be taken down, but all in all, I'm finished for another year. Can I just say, that I love the week after Christmas? For so many people this week is a let-down: no more presents, no more expectation, and it's like the wind that was pushing this chaotic busy ship forward for the past four weeks is gone. But, for me, the week after Christmas is a time to relax and catch my breath after the busyness of the past month. I'm also pretty reflective, and so I love the closing out of a year and having the time to sit and think back over all that's happened. Usually, it's a mixed bag. There are some regrets, some things to be thankful for, happy times and sadness, and it's a great chance for me to find comfort (if I will) in God's sovereignty in my life. I love seeing how through it all, my sin, the falleness of this world I live in, the blessings, and the small victories, God is leading me and guiding me and using it all to accomplish his will in my life.
Here's the thing: reflection can sometimes be a dangerous thing. Because we are all born with a sinful nature, depression, feeling sorry for ourselves, and going "dark" is something we all have the potential to struggle with. And yet, there is a sense in which God has called his people to reflect. In the Old Testament he was always pointing the Israelites, his chosen people's eyes forward, calling on them to look ahead to their home in the Promised Land and the Messiah that would come and save them, but there were times when he would instruct them to take a minute and reflect, to look back and see where he'd work and remember his faithfulness. They might seem mutually exclusive exercises, but they're necessarily linked, because if I don't take time to regularly remember God's character and faithfulness, it's nearly impossible for me to trust him with what's to come.
The trick is, like most other things in life, to take my eyes off myself. This isn't looking back on Jason, and myself this past year. It's looking back on God and what he's been doing, his character and the ways that character has become more clearly visible the past twelve months.
2 comments:
So I guess it's al about finding Jesus, his work, and the story he's telling as we reflect?
Lee: I think you're right on with that statement. I continue to be amazed that the lessons are so simple and so repetitious, but so dang hard to get! (At least for me.) I mean, if I were looking back on ME this past year, I'd be finding the nearest cliff to drive my car off of!
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