A Grateful Review and Hopeful Preview
Can you believe this is the last day of 2022? I don’t know about you, but any predictions I might have made about 2022 were way off. It didn’t turn out as planned at all. But God knew what I needed. In many ways, it was the best — most unusual — year of my life. I can’t help but smile about what a gift 2022 was for me. There were some stressful moments to be sure, but also ample time to breathe deeply, to contemplate what’s next, to reevaluate. I’ve never awakened at the beach — soothed by the sounds of pounding waves — so often. I cannot recommend a tropical sabbatical highly enough. I wasn’t expecting this time, didn’t plan for it whatsoever, but God’s ways are not our ways. And I can testify: His ways are higher.
I hope you too can look back at aspects of 2022 that fill you with gratitude, that utterly convince you of God’s love and care for you.
As for 2023, I am full of hope. The world is insane, but maybe there are more of us who recognize that our hope is not in government, human saviors, nor technological advances, but in God alone. Will and I listened to a Tim Keller sermon on repeat recently. The sermon is one that feels particularly fitting to our 2022 story. In it Keller retells a story from Elisabeth Elliot about a 20th Century shepherd. The shepherd, to protect his sheep, hurls the sheep into a vat of insecticide. Without the treatment, the sheep will be endangered. The sheep cannot possibly appreciate that this “hurling” is motivated by love. Instead, the sheep ignorantly fight the treatment which is intended for their good. Can you think of something analogous in your own life? Are you resisting a “process” God intend for your good?
In these last moments of 2022, I am praying that I will be full of gratitude for the blessings of the last twelve months, and that I will trust my Lord and Savior even more in 2023. What are you thinking of as we close out the year? How would you characterize your posture about the days ahead?
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,”
declares the Lord.
”As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:8-9
Digging Deeper:
What are you most thankful for from 2022?
What are you most hopeful for in 2023?
P.S. I changed the annual subscription of Spurstack a few weeks back from $50 to $30. Embarrassingly, the platform is still charging $50 for annual memberships. The downside of the platform is there is essentially zero online support — there is no one for me to call or even email. I am trying to figure out how to refund those of you who have paid the extra $20. Please know that I am aware of the situation and will try to get it resolved as quickly as possible.