An End and a Beginning

For last year's words belong to last year's voice. And next year's words await another voice. And to make an end is to make a beginning. -T.S. Eliot

New Years never quite goes as I plan.

And I find myself a little bit restless today.

Some restlessness is good - keeps you moving, striving, trying.

Some restlessness is bad - it comes from the father of lies, demanding you believe falsities and subtle untruths. Causing you to be unable to sit still; which causes you to be unable to hear. This sort of restlessness causes you to be unable to listen.

I am faced with a new decade.

Today is a fresh start. But not really because it is January 1st 2010.

Because today is a new day. A new opportunity. A chance to do better.

And as I sit alone in my apartment, struggling with that second sort of restlessness coursing through my body, I remember something Beth Moore taught me this fall.

We all know God can change our lives. But He also has the ability to change our day.

How often we let ourselves wallow. Let ourselves stew in our own resentment, our own bitterness, our own discontent, our own insecurity. Sometimes we just WANT to be in a bad mood. We actively choose to be hateful, grumpy, sullen, or angry.

So this year, my challenge for myself and for the rest of you, is to let God change your day.

To let yesterday end.

To leave it all there. Whatever happened. Whatever they said. Whoever didn't see you. Whoever rejected you. Whoever offended you. Whatever broke you. Whatever pushed your buttons. Whatever overwhelmed you.

Leave it there.

At the foot of the cross, where the Father God has offered to take it all from us.

I heard on the radio the other day of a group of people who were offered a chance to get rid of all their junk.

An industrial-sized shredder was brought to the site and people lined up for hours to dump their baggage, their junk, and let it be destroyed.

Everything from pictures to scales to credit cards were brought, dumped in the shredder, and the people walked away with a lighter load.

Let 2010 be a year of listening.

Of surrendering.

Of knowing Him better.

Let Him become your delight.

The source of Your joy.

-

So may whatever happened in 2009 have changed you.

May it have catalyzed growth and sparked change and ignited desire.

But everything else, leave it there.

Today, take a step forward.

-

Let Him change your day.