The Time to Act

Well, this post is a little late.  It was meant for the first, but that day and the ones since have been filled with a new thing called J-Term.  Speaking of new things, that's kind of the whole point of this post, something new.  Before the beginning of this year, I always looked at new year's resolutions as a waste of time if nothing else.  I have heard, just as most others too, the half joke half truth that come new year's day, gyms are suddenly packed.  New year's resolutions to get in shape, lose weight, or start running again cause a flock of new people to populate the gyms.  That population would slowly die off as the month wore on, and the resolutions would fall by the wayside like so many others until next January when it'd happen again.  Whether true or not, this is how I saw new year's resolutions, an excuse to try and change, but just that, try.  So, I have steered clear of them my whole life, thinking if I need an excuse to try and change, the change will likely not happen.  Well, I'll be the first to say I can be rather narrow minded sometimes.  And, you guessed it, I have a new year's resolution.  What is it?  Well, I'll come to the later.

The week surrounding new year's day was one that showed me a lot of new things, not least of all was the reality of change.  I have always believed in change.  I think a person needs to never stop changing and growing.  We are flawed, broken, and in a constant need to become more like our Lord, Jesus Christ.  Taking this into consideration, I have tried to maintain a view that is open to what God is trying to show me.  Well, I recently found out that one flaw with that way of thinking is that a lot is seen but little is acted upon.  Ironically enough, God showed me over that week I needed to change how I approached change.

So, this is what I feel like I need to act on, and I feel the need to start that act with a resolution.  It coincidentally happened on new year's day, funny that.

First, I'd like to point out how I view my resolution.  It's not not the pinnacle of what I need to work on this year, it's not some great goal that when and if achieved I can relax in contentment, and it's not something that will or can be finished in the course of a year.  What I've resolved is an important part of my life that needs to actively change and will need constant work throughout my life.  So why a new year's resolution you might ask?  Well, I feel that if I build the habit of doing something, it will become easier even if it doesn't become second nature or something I never have to worry about again.  But, honestly, nothing in life is that way, not your fitness, not your desire to change, and certainly not your relationship with Christ.

And, now to what you have been waiting with baited breath this whole time to hear, my new year's resolution(okay maybe I'm being a bit optimistic and overly dramatic here :P).  I have resolved to act.

Alright, maybe not as grandiose or impressive as I may have built it up to be or you might have expected, but that's it.  However, there's far more to it that simply stating it can convey.  This fundamentally changes how I look at life.  I have always taken a more passive role in things, wanting to see fully before acting.  But this resolution is my desire to break out of that and simply start doing and moving.

Honestly, this goes against how I've lived most of my life.  Stepping out of my comfort zone and working, having faith God is using my actions for His glory, is hard to say the least to me.  This will challenge my thinking as well as my actions almost daily, and in some way already has.  This will be the theme for me this year, not my focus or my purpose, but how I will work to approach everything I do this year.

I am doing this for two reasons.  One, to make myself accountable.  To open myself up to the encouragements and challenges of those around me and allow you--the person reading this--to hold me to my resolution.  Second, to be able to look back at the year come December and expectantly look to see how God used it and worked through me over the course of the year.  I don't know what I'm going to see in December, success or failure, but no matter what, God will use me to bring Him glory through this and that alone makes it worth the struggle it will be.

How about you?  What is God showing you needs to change?  Something you can spend a whole year on and still not finish, but be all the better because of it?  Maybe something small or something big.  A thing you think you can conquer in a year or something you don't even think is possible.  Don't hesitate, resolve to let God work and then move out of the way and let Him.

"6But He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, “God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” 7Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you." ~James 4:6-7

 This verse stuck out to me as I was writing and thought it's something anyone making a resolution will need.  The strength to be humble, to submit to God, and to fight the enemy.  And God, my God, gives the strength we need when we ask and truly need it, when we start relying on, submitting to, and humbling ourselves before Him.


Time to take a stand, time to make a resolution, time to act!


Finding My Resolve, Er, Resolution,
Joshua