Joel 2:25a - Restore to You

I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten...
Joel 2:25a

We all have those days that we just can't forget. The anniversary, the first I love you, the birth of someone special. But we also have those dates that are not so beloved, remembered for deaths of loved ones, of heartaches, of disaster.

This past week last year marked the beginning of an ordeal that I will never forget. Each time I write the date, I remember where I was last year at this time, and believe me, each time it feels like a victory. Like a "look who's laughing now" in Satan's face.

I am glad I am not where I was then. It was my absolute lowest, most vulnerable state. I didn't think I would be walking back in the doors of my house in peace and safety - EVER. To put it in perspective, I recently survived a near miss of a tornado dancing closely around my house with a lot less fear than others find normal, and it's due to how terrified I was of the fallacies my own mind created for the 12 days (and longer) surrounding this ordeal last year.

Writing the dates in this new year reminds me that we get a new start with God and that he can and does replace what the enemy destroys in our lives. Last year, if you would have told me I'd be sitting here at my computer lazily typing these words, wondering how much of this story to include and how much to leave out like I was selecting pictures for a photo album, I probably would've been too much out of my mind to even understand what you were saying.

But here I am.

A person satan didn't destroy.

A person that will keep getting up again and again.

Maybe I will have another crazy, manic episode like that.

Maybe I won't.

But I'm going to continue being a picture of the person God restores because I'm never giving in.

Philippians 3:13b-14 - Forgetting the Past

I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.

Philippians 3:13b-14

One thing has been brought to my attention lately, and it's pretty self-explanatory. You can't move forward into what God has for you if you're always looking back into the past. Even if whatever happened in the past was traumatic and haunts your mind, even if it was angering and that person still hasn't made amends, even if it was wonderful beyond belief, if you plant yourself there, you're stuck.

The freeing thing about looking forward to what lies ahead is that you can, through God's help, free yourself from guilt over past failures. So you totally blew it? Learn from it, and start again tomorrow with that much new knowledge about yourself and what trips you up.

I love the race metaphor in this passage. Just like any good racer, you aren't going to be looking back. You're going to be ever longing to get to the end, but you can't use all your energy in one speedy burst at the beginning and then fall down in defeat because you feel tired. It's about persistence. You train, treading the same path again and again until you master your breathing and your stride and how to hydrate properly.

And it's all about the riches that God wants to give us. It's His plan. 

This year is all shiny and fresh and new. The goals I am continuing are well-worn.

I pray that by God's help I can forget about the failures I have experienced in certain areas in the past and focus on doing the next right thing. 

I hereby strip off any labels I have accepted that are not of God and will determine to view myself as He views me.

We don't need a new year to make new goals. 

We just need a new mindset - that of relying on God to show us what areas we need to change and of trusting that He, through the Holy Spirit, will  complete the work that He began (Philippians 1:6).