Reflect on 2011, then move ahead

It seems to me that years are coming and going all too quickly these days. I am certain it says something about my age, but wasn’t it just the other day we were all wondering what a new millennium would bring? How is it then that we are already beginning 2012?

Time marches on and another year is past. Allow me to make a couple of suggestions from a Christian perspective as we begin this New Year.

I always like to spend some time reflecting as we leave one year and begin another. It just seems like a natural time for reflection. Take some time in the next few days to reflect on 2011. Ask God to help you think back over these past months. Reflect on the good and the bad. Consider the things that have happened and ask God if there are any lessons you should learn. Consider if there are any changes you should make. It is a good thing to consider the course of our lives occasionally so we can determine if we need any course corrections. With the path your life has been on these past months, will you end up where God wants you to go? We should be careful not to fool ourselves into thinking that we can take the wrong road and end up at the right destination. As you consider the events of 2011, ask God to help you determine if you are going the right direction. If there are any changes that need to be made, now is a good time.

I always like to remember as I leave a year behind that God allows us new beginnings. He is the God of fresh starts. His grace is sufficient to forgive all my failures and give me an opportunity to begin again. Please be reminded today that if you have anything from last year or from any time in your past that you would like to leave behind, God provides the opportunity to begin again. He promises that His compas- sion is new every morning.

“Because of the Lord’s great love, we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” Lamentations 3:22-23 (NIV)

So, what better time to begin again and leave behind our failures? We should ask God to help us learn from our failures, but we need to leave them behind. We should seek to walk closer to Him and depend on Him for strength that is available to His children, but we should certainly leave the past where it belongs. In the past. Do you have anything that you would like to leave behind? Do you have anything that you would like to ask God to forgive you for? Is there any part of your life that needs a fresh start? God will allow you to begin again.

I would like to leave you with a challenge to pray and dream about what God might do in the coming year. As you pray and dream, remember that He is God. The limits aren’t connected to your humanness. The possibilities are connected to Him. When you consider what could happen in your life, in your relationships, in your Church family. Remember who our God is. Now it is important that I mention that the possibilities are connected to our willingness to surrender completely to Him. But, if we will allow Him to be Lord, completely surrendering to Him, our God of possibilities can do amazing things in and through us in 2012.

••• Editor’s note: Al Fowler is the pastor of First Baptist Church, Pea Ridge. He can be contacted at 451-8192, or by e-mail at al@prfbc.org.