Happy New Year

I have always enjoyed New Year’s celebrations and activities. There is something refreshing and exciting about a new start. That has never been more true than this year. I wanted to share some thoughts with you about getting 2022 started on the right track. Our key bible verse will be Psalms 10:17 LORD, You have heard the desire of the humble; You will prepare their heart; You will cause Your ear to hear. Everyone who knows me knows that I love to play golf. I play twice per week and sometimes more. ISN’T RETIREMENT GRAND? According to golf physics experts the period of time a club is actually in contact with the ball is .0005 seconds. There are thousands of lessons available about what to do with the club before and after that contact but the truth is that the determinate factor of whether it’s a good shot or bad shot is what happens during that .0005 seconds. If you start the ball off on the right path then it’s probably going to turn out pretty good. I see the same effect in place for 2022 in our key verse. The psalmist wrote Lord you have heard the desire the humble. Start the year being humble before God. Starting the year with humility before God is the best way to live the entire year before God. We see that sentiment is the Lord’s Prayer. May Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Consider for just a moment the humility in that prayer. Lord I surrender myself, my hopes, my dreams and indeed my very  life to you for 2022. I surrender to Your will for me rather than mine. Maybe, just maybe, when the ball drops instead of jumping up and down like a crazy person we should drop to our knees saying Lord may Your will be done in me. That will start the year off on the right trajectory. Let’s not forget the rest of that thought from the psalmist. The Lord hears the desire of the humble. As Spurgeon wrote, it doesn’t say the Lord hears the prayer of the humble. He hears your deepest unspoken desires. Before your desires can even take shape in the form of words God hears them. We see a glimpse of God in Isaiah’s vision. God high and lifted up on a throne too spectacular for any human to consider. That God knows and hears the desire of your heart. The God who spoke the world into existence and, according to the book of Revelations, will one day come back in all power and glory knows and hears the desires of your heart. Let me challenge all of us to start this year off on the right track. Let your first words and thoughts for 2022 be Lord not my will but Yours. That’s the best first step for a Happy New Year.