Your car broke down, you learned you have to take a pay cut, or even be laid off. Things are not going right. Sickness may have overtaken you, relatives died. Unemployment, disability, all the stresses of life. You barely have ends meeting now and things by your calculation are even worse the next few months.This year, you have experienced the ultimate test of faith, and have been faced with some of the worst situations. The questions are: can you make it through? Can you still believe? And does the Bible give you enough strength and scripture to go into 2011 with excitement? The answer friend is yes!
For God promises us in His word through Isaiah 43:19 For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.
God is going to do a new thing. You can have a day fill with opportunities to create yourself and your results anew. Take charge of your life today and everyday moving forward. Try not to focus on the past, move on. Learn from your past, make new choices, and move one. A person living in the past is like a driver who is driving down the road starring at the rear view mirror. Sooner or later, driving in this manner will lead to catastrophe. Allow the past to serve its rightful purpose as a teacher. Your past does not determine your future.
I believe there comes times in our lives where there are circumstances we don’t understand why. If you are not happy with the results you have had in your life up until now, be grateful for those results and experiences. They are true gifts. What do you mean by gifts? God was revealing important messages to you to mature your faith in Him.
You have to stay strong and be diligent in your approach to viewing your situation now. Here’s a question, why do people continue to get what they always got? The answer to this question is quit simple: If you continue to be who you have always been, you’ll continue to have what you’ll always had. In other words, if we don’t like what we are getting, we need to look at who and what we are being.
You cannot go into 2011 with this same drama in your life. You cannot be caught up in what used to be or who you used to be. God wants to give you new blessings. But God can’t give them to you if you continue to treat the new things like the old things by holding on to what has been.
Philippians 3:13-14 says, Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. This word straining means: To pull, draw, or stretch tight: strained the sheets over the bed. In 2010, God has been stretching you. God has been preparing you. He’s been getting you ready for your blessing.
We have to learn to leave the former things where they are. It’s time to move on. 2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! Thank God for a mighty great year. Thank God for all he has done for you. Thank God for what He taught you this year. Thank God for walking with you. God’s word will not return void.
Join me in declaring “GOD IS DOING A NEW THING”. Declare you will receive complete restoration. Declare doors will be opened that no man can shut. Declare you will be blessed with new ideas, new strategies, new businesses, second chances, new worship, and the list is endless. Whatever your new thing is, speak it. For the word promises us, if you declare a thing and it will be established for you. Your current situation isn’t the destination, but a chance to do something new in 2011.
Cynthia A. Patterson is the author of the forthcoming book, It Had to Happen – Understanding that everything you go through in life is for God’s Purpose. A sought-after conference speaker, teacher, and powerful prayer warrior who has a passion to inspire and encourage women. Her message of faith and wholeness is raising the awareness of God’s purpose and exposing each woman to the reality of His never-ending, love, mercy, and grace. Cynthia resides in Houston, Texas with son Michael who she calls her “mighty man of valor” as he is her first ministry.
