There’s no other way to say it. 2018 was hard. I faced challenges in almost every sphere of my life. And here’s what rang startlingly true by the time the holidays were ending: God has been faithful. He has held me fast. He has held me, my family, my church, and my business fast. In almost every way, we are better off now than we were at the end of 2017. I am so grateful! I love him even more. I am more hopeful. I feel more confident in his care and provision. I feel more settled in my calling to give what he has given me for the sake of love and of the kingdom. Last year’s challenges left me more prayerful, or at least, more eager to be more prayerful (prayer is hard!). They left me more hungry for Christ to come and make all things right. He gave me this perspective as I reflected on the year and talked about it with my wife and friends.
So I turned my attention forward and asked, What do I need to remember in 2019? And this thought came: Hold on to what is of heaven, while letting go of what is of the world. YES, my heart said. I DO want to be less enamored of the world and less desiring of the world’s shallow pleasures. I want to be less beholden to what my body and mind impulsively demand. I want my life guided by what is eternal rather what is temporary and what is yet still invisible rather than what is visible.
Then I decided, at my wise wife’s suggestion, to study Hebrews this year. I’d planned to read the whole bible again, but then agreed that I needed to slow down. God confronted my desire to check boxes and enjoy a cheaper sense of accomplishment, rather than giving time and energy for the Lord to massage his word into my soul. Massages hurt, by the way, when they find a spot that requires more pressure. Oh, but the relief that flows in when God mercifully pries loose tightly held feelings or assumptions or (what I thought were) needs, all of which actually hindered what is best and true.
So I’ve been reading Hebrews over the last 2 weeks and today I read this: ...Let us lay aside every weight and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before us, endured the cross… Hebrews 12:1-2
There it is! Hebrews is about looking past what is temporal to what is eternal, past what is seen to what is unseen and past the pain of the present to the glory of what is to come. Cling to what is of heaven and of him. Let go of what is of the world and of the flesh. Pursue what is truly life and leave behind fleeting pleasures. It is no easy task to let go of what I thought I needed, what I thought kept me and satisfied me. It’s not easy to let go of hurt or self-pity or self-righteousness or angry grumbling. So, I am thankful that God has revealed himself to be the one priceless treasure. He is worth everything I could give or give up in order to have him and him alone.
I pray that the Lord would reveal himself to you and allow you to see what is truly precious and worth pursuing this year. I see the goal of biblical counseling as a means of revealing what is true of us and the Lord. It is God’s truth that will change us, set us free, and bring us to life.
If I can be of service in this or any way, please reach out.