God has gifted us with necessary endings in order that we might not be overcome with despair and discouraged to the point of giving up. Just as the day and the week and even the year may end in weariness of heart and mind and spirit, there is a time for rest between the end of one and the beginning of another. We lay our heads down, close our eyes and take refreshment in the sleep of restoration.
Life is a lot like rebooting a computer. Rebooting is the thing I do when my computer acts up and everything else has fail to remedy the problem. Turn it off, shut it down, disconnect it’s power source; let it rest and plug it in, turn it on and voila! Problems and issues resolved and I am back on line.
Sometimes we just need a reboot. Just as rebooting requires a shut down and a moment of rest before a restart, something must end and pause before we can begin again. A difficult day may end in a fog of despair and gloom but after a good night’s sleep morning dawns with fresh hope, battle-readiness, and a grace-strengthened, renewed mind and spirit equal to whatever the day brings. There must be rest for the weary in order to revive and restore the fatigued spirit, mind and body.
While each day promises a new beginning, on a larger scale, each week has a Monday. How many times have we decided that we would begin a new thing on “Monday?” I have started many a self-improvement plan on “Monday.” Monday is a pivot day. Whatever new plan I have initiated and failed at can always be reinstated on the following “Monday.” There is a curious hope is the power of Monday reset.
The year 2020 came to a close with resounding cheers and jeers. People find hope in a new year. We look forward to and anticipate blessings in the year ahead. God created us needing a fresh place to begin again so it only stands to reason that people look to the calendar for endings, rest and new beginnings.
Those of us who have put our faith and trust in Jesus recognize that morning is not our savior; Monday is not our savior; January 1st is not our savior. Jesus, who is the Alpha and Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end (Rev. 22:13) gave us, in perfect wisdom, beginnings and endings that we might not faint or grow weary to the point of despair but that we might be renewed and strengthened with the hope of new morning mercies. Jesus, in whom strengthening grace sufficient for the day is found, is our Savior, Redeemer and Deliverer.
How easy it is to forget that our hope does not lie in a moment in time but the One created time! I must be reminded that my hope, my confident assurance, is rooted in the promises of God stated over and over again, throughout His Word; He will never leave us or forsake us; His steadfast love endures forever and His mercies never end.
Philippians 3:14 But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
And so disciplining our hearts to focus on Jesus; not looking back to the past, counting the cost and bemoaning what was lost but forgetting, in a sense, that none of it matters or has genuine value compared to the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus our Lord. With eyes riveted on the prize, reaching out for what is yet beyond us, straining forward, pressing toward that which our eyes behold.
As we begin afresh the year 2021 let us look to Jesus, the anchor of our hope, to the praise of His glory, and cast a blessing to one another with a resounding Happy New Year!
Walk the Upward Path 