I would define success as obedience to God’s Spirit and His purposes for your life. I define failure as distancing yourself from God’s Spirit and His purposes for your life. The challenge is resisting what comes naturally and striving for what is most definitely supernatural. Another way of saying that might sound like not giving into the short term, easy goals and striving for the eternal goals. That may be as simple as recognizing a tendency in yourself to not tell the truth and setting a goal of speaking more truth this year. It may be something like striving not to respond in anger to your kids and spouse and to respond to them in love instead. It may go deeper though. You may be wrestling with overwhelming failure. Maybe you are reeling from a divorce or a major job loss. This year is not the end. Life isn’t over, but it may seem like it for the moment. Don’t lose sight of the things that last! What matters is not so much what has already happened, but what is yet to come. What will you do with the new year God has given you?

If we don’t change anything, we don’t get any better…and the world around you deserves your best. I would suggest the greatest change you can make this new year is to draw closer to God. We can spend our time focusing on all the peripheral changes that need to be made in our lives (lose weight, better attitude, work on disciplining the kids better, shedding a bad habit here and gaining a good one there…) OR we can spend our time focusing on the One who makes all that and more possible. Will you focus on the periphery or the heart of the matter?

There’s nothing more special about January than any other month, but there is something entirely special about new beginnings. Fresh, clean slates are exciting! The incredible grace of God can prepare you to draw near to Him. The enemy wants nothing more than for us to stay apart. But God’s grace makes it possible for us to come inside; to pull up a chair at the fire and be face to face with our Father. 

I remember one year I was so overwhelmed with all I had said and done. I couldn’t take it back and I couldn’t fix it. The more I thought about my circumstances, the more anxious I became. Separation from God has a way of making us afraid! We fear what could be done, what might be said, who might lash out… I was overwhelmed and didn’t know what to do or where to turn. But God drew me close. I wasn’t left in my anxiety to stew and sweat. I wasn’t left outside to wonder what might happen next. He pulled me in. I heard Him say “You’re doing good, son.” In that moment all the anxiety over my failures washed away. I knew I was forgiven and all was right again. I knew that even though I could repeat my failures and separation, I didn’t have to. It was possible for me to do something new, something different. I chose the new. 

When the new day came for Israel, Moses told them to “circumcise their hearts and stop being stubborn.” He meant it was time for them to remove the things that would stand in between them and their obeying the Lord in the future. He meant their past was framed by stubbornness and disobedience, but today is a new day. Grace is real. It was time for them to pick up, respond to Him and move forward. (BTW, Deuteronomy 10.12-22 is a great passage to read in the new year.)

Circumcise your hearts! Don’t be stubborn. The natural, easy way will always end in disappointment and ultimately failure. Choosing to submit to God and His purposes for you puts you in a place of joy and renewal. A prayer like this can be a good start to the conversation:

“God, I need you. I know I’ve messed up and there is separation between the two of us. Your boundaries are too hard for me to reach on my own. I fail every time. Help me, please! Forgive me and make the path in front of me straight. Fix the broken pieces in my life and let me start fresh. I love you and am excited about a new beginning!”