A Realistic Perspective on the New Year

Christmas is over and the new year is upon us. In some ways, it’s crazy to me that this year is over. It’s gone by so fast and so many things have happened.

Significant Moments of 2018:

1. I submitted my first book proposal

2. My husband and I bought our first house

3. We moved into said house and have done many projects on it

4. My job title changed and my hours and pay increased

5. My husband and I did a marriage enrichment class thing that’s been really beneficial (technically not all the way over yet)

6. I led a small group at my church

7. I got to speak at a church thing for the first time in a long time

8. I finally got a new phone

9. I went to my first writers conference

Some of those things are good. Some are a mixed bag. Overall, I would rate this as a pretty good year. However, thhere were some hard things in there. Some I can’t really write about yet (maybe someday), but believe me when I say there were some hard things that happened this year that I didn’t expect at all.

I would be lying if I said that everything I hoped for happened this year. It was a good year, but that doesn’t mean it went exactly as I expected. Some bad things happened that I didn’t expect. There were good things that I wanted to happen and that I set goals for that I didn’t accomplish.

2018 Goals I Didn’t Accomplish

1. Losing weight (I actually gained weight)

2. Getting my book manuscript accepted by an agent/publisher (haven’t even gotten a response from an agent as of yet besides, “I don’t represent this particular genre”)

3. Making money off my blog (nope, I’ve just spent money on hosting fees and tools)

4. Selling over 100 copies of my ebook (I sold 4 books, one of which was to my mom)

5. Being more intentional about having people over and/or getting together with people (I don’t think I was any more social than last year)

Things never turn out how we expect. We always have unfulfilled dreams and things we’re hoping for (or hoping against).  That’s just how life works. We win some, we lose some, and even after we win, we quickly move on to the next game.

What I Know about 2019

I wish I could tell you that this next year is going to be great. It’s going to be all winning. You’re going to meet your future spouse. Finally you’ll be able to get pregnant. You’ll finally find the perfect job. Before the end of the year you’ll get the acceptance letter from your dream school. Money is going to roll in and problems are going to disappear I wish I could tell you that whatever you’re waiting on is going to happen.

The problem is I can’t tell you that. I can’t assure you that you will make any visible progress towards whatever your dream is. Sure, you can make goals and try to get there. There’s nothing wrong with goals and plans. However, there are some things that no goal or plan can make happen. Only God had help you to make progress on those things.

I sincerely hope that God does gift you the gift of seeing progress towards your dream. However, I can’t promise you that it will happen. More than likely next December you will look back and there will be things that you hoped would happen that didn’t (and probably some things you hoped wouldn’t happen and did). Sadly, there’s a change that some of those things that didn’t happen are the ones you hoped for the most.

How Will You Respond When Things Don’t Go as Planned?

I’m not saying that to be depressing or kill your hopes. I saying this so that you can start thinking: what is your response to God going to be if a year from now you’ve made no visible progress towards that thing you’re hoping for.

God never promises that life will be easy for us or that he’ll give us everything we think we need. Quite the opposite actually. If Jesus’ life is any indication, we should expect to be disappointed and hurt, even if we’re doing the very thing that God has called us to do.

Is your relationship and how you think about God dependent upon him “coming through” for you by giving you the things you want? I can honestly say that at one point in my life mine was. When I didn’t get the thing that I wanted, I gave up on God and threw a rebellious temper tantrum for a couple years. That’s obviously not what we’re going for or what God wants.

God’s Grace Always Comes Through

Luckily, God was patient and graceful to me and came through for me even when I was at my worst. The truth is that God doesn’t wait for us to be “good enough” or anything like that to give us the desires of our heart. The gifts that he gives are gifts of grace, given and not earned.

Because of that experience, I now have greater trust that God will come through for me, even when I don’t deserve it or have little hope that things can change. Do you have kind of trust in God? Do you believe that he loves you? Do you believe that he wants what’s best for you?

I know that can be hard to believe sometimes. I get that. I’ve been there. Still, can you continue to be faithful to God even when it doesn’t seem like it’s doing you any good? Can you continue to hope in God even when it seems like things never change?

It’s not an easy thing. I know. I don’t have three easy steps to help you trust. There aren’t easy steps for that. Anyone who says otherwise is selling something. Sure, it helps to read the Bible and see how God can through for people. You can listen to the stories of Christians of the past or even how God has worked through the people you know. That can help. In the end though, it just comes down to doing it, to keep on keeping on even when you’re not sure it’s worth it or doing any good.

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