By Debbie Altman

 

I love that the New Year gives us all a chance to “reset”.  It is also an opportunity to re-new, re-evaluate and re-prioritize. I love that! I even wrote down some goals today!

But if I can be honest, all of that sometimes stresses me out. I personally feel like all the extra holiday responsibilities and festivities cause me to put some things on the back burner until “after the new year,” And now “after the new year” is here and I have to put away all the decorations, face that list...AND re-set, renew, re-evaluate, and re- prioritize! The New Year has barely started and I can feel overwhelmed. Sigh...

So today, I found some thoughts that I had saved years ago and that brought great peace to me. Some Bible verses, and thoughts from Charles Spurgeon, whom I love. I have no great revelation for you from ME today. I am simply dependent on Christ for every day of this new year.

“Cast all your anxieties on Him, because He cares for you. 1 Peter 5:7

It is a happy way of soothing sorrow when we can feel, ‘He cares for me.’ Christian, do not dishonor religion by always wearing a brow of care; come cast your burden on your Lord. You are staggering beneath a weight that your Father would not feel. What seems to you a crushing burden would be to Him but as the small dust of the balance. Nothing is so sweet as to Lie passive in God’s hands And know no will but His.

O child...be patient; God has not passed you over. He who is the feeder of sparrows will also furnish you with what you need. Do not sit in despair; hope on, hope ever...There is one who cares for you. His eye is fixed on you, His heart beats with pity for your woe, and His omnipotent hand shall bring you the needed help. The darkest cloud shall scatter itself in showers of mercy. The blackest gloom shall give place to the morning. He, if you are one of His family, will bind up your wounds and heal your broken heart. Do not doubt His grace because of tribulation, but believe that He loves you as much in seasons of trouble as in times of happiness. What a serene and quiet life might you lead if you were to leave the providing to the God of providence!... If God cares for you, why do you need to care too? Can you trust Him for your soul and not for your body? He has never refused to bear your burdens; He has never fainted under their weight. Come, then, soul! Say good-bye to anxiety and leave all your concerns in the hand of a gracious God.

(Charles Spurgeon, Morning and Evening)

Thank you Lord that I can “lie passive in Your hands and know no will but Yours.” I can handle that.