As clear as day, I remember how the year 2015 started. I was with one of my friends counting down to the new year- fireworks lit the sky and my spirit soared with each explosion! In the most dramatic, animated manner we waved goodbye to the hard year that had been 2014! We were done, done, DONE with it, and ready to take on 2015 with renewed zeal and hope. "Good bye 2014"!, we shouted...Good bye!
There is so much I would like to say about the year 2015, but I will spare you the details. I will say this though- it was definitely not what I had hoped it would be. It would seem as though the giants were bigger, the mountains were higher, and the valleys were much, much deeper than I anticipated. Deflated. That is the word that adequately describes how I felt for the most part last year. And yet as I look back, ponder, reflect and soul-search, I cannot deny the unmistakable presence of God in my life. He has been there...in the details...giving me enough light each step of the way. A wise woman once gave me an illustration of how when you carry a lamp at night, it lights up the area around your feet. Everything else remains engulfed in darkness, but as you keep moving, you find enough light for every step. That is exactly what God was to me all of last year- a lamp to my feet, and a light to my path. 2015 was the year of 'just enough'. Just enough grace...just enough light...just enough joy...just enough money...just enough...just enough for every moment, and every day. I felt like the children of Israel, wandering through the wilderness, lost and confused, yet knowing that there was provision for them every day. God provided manna for them. It was enough for every meal and they could not store it up for the next day. They had to trust that He, Jehovah Jireh, their provider would meet their need at every point.
 |
| Emmanuel Jambo Photography |
2015 taught me how to depend on God with everything I have. It taught me that my sanity, my integrity, and my existence is all pegged on Him, and without Him I am, and have absolutely nothing.
As I have prayed for myself I have also prayed for you beloved, that your hope will not be cut off. That you will receive the blessing of a new year with open arms in spite of all the pain, heartache, and disappointment you may have experienced the last couple of months.
Dear God,
Thank you for the precious gift of life that you have given in abundance. Thank you for every need that you met in the past year, and every prayer that you answered. As hard as it is, I also thank you for the doors that remained shut, and the opportunities that slipped through. Thank you for the times when I felt betrayed by people I trusted, because those times pointed me to you- a friend who sticks closer than a brother. God I pray for everyone reading this who may have had a difficult year. May their strength be renewed. I pray that you put a new song in their mouth, and a fresh spring in their step. May we not be blind-sided by any form of disappointment, and miss out on what you are already doing- a new thing; a beautiful thing! Thank you for another year. A new chance to serve you and bring you honor.
In your mighty, matchless, name I pray,
Amen.
