January 1st! A New Year has dawned! And, with it, new opportunities. Unfortunately these beautiful gifts from Above most often arrive in very slovenly wrapped packages that we euphemistically refer to as “challenges”\u2014or, less diplomatically, as “problems” or “trouble.”<\/p>\n
I was rather taken aback when, in the midst of the New Year’s celebration on Times Square, the news commentators spoke disparagingly of 2012, rehearsing tragedy after tragedy\u2014most recently the Newtown “slaughter of the innocents.” Most, if indeed not all, tragedies can be traced ultimately to “departures from God’s moral character” (a nice way of avoiding the nasty “s-word”: SIN). You can pretty much take this one to the proverbial bank: “Moral lapses and collapses always end in tragedy\u2014tragedy for the perpetrators (easily understood), but tragedy for the “innocent” victims (not so easily understood). The bottom line: we often suffer because of the sins of others.<\/p>\n
I’m reminded of an old Paul Simon song: “Some Folks’ Lives Roll Easy”<\/p>\n
Some folks’ lives roll easy as a breeze
\nDrifting through a summer night
\nHeading for a sunny day
\nBut most folks’ lives, oh they stumble
\nLord they fall
\nThrough no fault of their own
\n[unfortunately not always true!]
\nMost folks never catch their stars
\nAnd here I am, Lord
\nI’m knocking at your place of business
\nI know I ain’t got no business here
\nBut you said if I ever got so low
\nI was busted
\nYou could be trusted
\n[fortunately ALWAYS true!]<\/p>\n
Some folks’ lives roll easy
\nSome folks’ lives
\nNever roll at all
\nOh, they just fall
\nThey just fall
\nSome folks’ lives<\/p>\n
Did we experience tragedy in 2012? Absolutely!
\nWill we experience tragedy in 2013? Inevitably!
\nShould we cower in despair? Absolutely NOT!
\nWhy? Because we have confidence in a POWERFUL, LOVING GOD Who promised us that He is at work in ALL THINGS (I’m guessing this includes tragedies) to bring about the highest good for those who love him and are called according to his eternal purpose (Romans 8:28).<\/p>\n
THE KEY? FOCUS!! Let us focus not on trouble itself, but on the One able to deliver us from it! I’m reminded of the phrase with which my uncle Bob concluded his radio broadcast for YEARS: “Friend, you don’t have any trouble; ALL you need is FAITH in GOD.” If I might unpack this beautiful reminder further: ALL you need is FAITH in a FAITHFUL GOD.<\/p>\n
I close this New Year’s greeting with the words from Andre Crouch.<\/p>\n
I’ve had many tears and sorrows,
\nI’ve had questions for tomorrow,
\nThere’s been times I didn’t know right from wrong.
\nBut in every situation,
\nGod gave me blessed consulation,
\nthat my trials come to only make me strong.<\/p>\n
I’ve been to lots of places,
\nI’ve seen a lot of faces,
\nThere’s been times I felt so all alone.
\nBut in my lonely hours,
\nyes, those precious lonely hours,
\nJesus lets me know that I was His own<\/p>\n
I thank God for the mountains,
\nand I thank Him for the valleys,
\nI thank Him for the storms He brought me through.
\nFor if I’d never had a problem,
\nI wouldn’t know God could solve them,
\nI’d never know what faith in God could do.<\/p>\n
Chorus:
\nThrough it all,
\nthrough it all,
\nI’ve learned to trust in Jesus,
\nI’ve learned to trust in God.<\/p>\n
Through it all,
\nthrough it all,
\nI’ve learned to depend upon His Word.<\/p>\n
NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTIONS #1 and 2:
\n1. LET’S HAVE FAITH IN GOD!!
\n2. LET’S BE FAITHFUL TO GOD!!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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