Resolutions and Hope - New Evangelizers

For with God nothing shall be impossible. (Luke 1:37, KJV)

 

Many of us look at the New Year and resolve to make changes in our lives. How many times have we said, “This is the year I will lose weight, stop smoking, go to church more, get a new job or, __________, and (fill in the blank.)? We all do it and there’s nothing wrong with the desire to make our lives better. The problem comes in when we assume that we can make those changes on our own. I won’t go into what you get when you break apart the word assume, just know that here it’s entirely applicable. Without God, our resolutions are doomed to failure. Take weight loss for example; the weight I have gained over the years is a result of my sinning. Gluttonous, greedy behavior with no consideration given to obeying and worshiping God has put on the pounds. God created my body perfectly and it sends signals when it needs something. By disregarding those signals and feeding my body whenever I felt like it I have put the food and myself before God. I have committed idolatry.

Food is not the only way to do this; it is just one of my sins of choice. Money, sex, drugs, alcohol, work and many others I can name have become the gods we put before God. They all add up to putting ourselves ahead of God and then when these gods fail us and they always do, who do we blame? Well, the answer isn’t ourselves. We blame God; want to know why He failed us, why He is punishing us? We are good people and don’t deserve this. Satan has poisoned our minds with the seeds of his lies.

Satan has put us into a battle for our very souls, but we can change the tide of the battle. We can change sides. By dying to self and rising to a new life in God we can disprove Satan’s lies and nurture God’s truths in our hearts and souls. God will show us how to overcome all of our addictions when we submit to him. God is our shield against Satan and his lies. He is the support we need to make the changes in our lives.

When we make those resolutions do we think about God, do we hope that He will change us to meet our desires or place our hope in the promise that He will do what is best for us? Do we let ourselves be misled by Satan’s lies? When I think about what I ask for, and I am not that different from most people, my resolutions are self-focused, I want it done and I want it done my way? What God may have planned does not enter my thoughts. Ultimately I give up on my resolutions and the hopes to make changes. Maybe it is time to rethink the resolution process. Consult, God and believe with all my heart in His promises for me. Paul said it well in Romans:

For we are saved by hope: but hope that is

seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why

doth he yet hope for?

But if we hope for that we see not, then do we

with patience wait for it.(Romans 8:24-25, KJV)

Put your hope in God, trust in His promises, He will bring them to fruition in His own time and His own way, but He will do it. Satan won’t.

Christina Weigand

Christina Weigand’s a writer, wife, and mother of four. She is also Nana to three granddaughters. She lives with her husband and youngest daughter in Cranberry Twp. Pennsylvania, returning there after a short sabbatical in Washington. Currently, she’s working on fantasy novels and inspirational writing. Through her writing, she strives to share the Word of God and help people young and old to realize the love and mercy He has for everyone. When she’s not writing, she’s active in her local Church as a lector, Bible Study, volunteering at her daughter’s school helping the children develop a love for reading and writing. Jesus fills her home with love as she shares Him through her writing.