I have a confession to make: I rather enjoy watching cheesy movies. The answer to “favourite movie” will remain The Shawshank Redemption, and Wonder Woman and Dunkirk were both fantastic films this year. However, there’s just something comfortable and cozy about the predictability of Independence Day or White House Down and the triumph of good over evil. Or, if I’m feeling more in a chick-flick mood, the happy endings of Leap Year or Return to Me.
I also really like reading crime books and being sucked into thrillers and wanting to know who did it, or how is this mess going to be resolved. And the confession that goes along with that is that I have definitely read plot synopses when I need to sleep at 1am but also need to know how it all ends.
2018 begins in a couple of days and I’ve found myself looking at the year ahead through fingers covering my eyes because, in so many ways, I have no idea where this story is going to go and what plot twists lie ahead. I am excited to see what is going to happen, what God is going to do, but I also find myself being a little nervous. Some of that is the sense that January is going to be just a little bit crazy with the normal re-entry after home assignment, a new project that God has clearly led me to, and a training conference I’m attending. I like predictability and 2018 is already shaping up to be anything but.
As I think back to the year that was, I cannot help but laugh at all that God did. Things that weren’t thoughts in my head 1st January 2017 became incredible realities during the year, God-given dreams that felt years away from fruition came to life. It wasn’t at all predictable, except that His faithfulness was awesome in the truest sense of that word, even in the bumps and the hard times.
So as I look at 2018 I know that I have no business predicting what the year is going to look like. As I dream and pray and think about my goals for the year ahead I’m asking God to give me His dreams and plans, because I know His plans are bigger than me simply surviving crazy months and being a little older and wiser twelve months from now. And I know that predictability holds no real comfort, that God has always been the deepest source of comfort.
Now, even as I feel a little nervous entering this year, it is with an almost giddiness. With an excitement and expectancy about what God is going to do. And here is what I’m expecting: I’m expecting Him to show up and be faithful. I’m expecting Him to be big and tender. I’m expecting Him to do the impossible and more than I could ever ask or imagine. I’m expecting to need to hear Him say “Fear not, I am with you” over and over. I’m expecting Him to show His strength in hard times. There’s a whole lot I cannot predict, but He is the same yesterday, today, and forever, and I’m excited about what He has planned for 2018!
What are you expecting and anticipating as you look to this next year?
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