New Beginnings

“Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”  Lam. 3:22-23

Happy New Beginnings in 2014!

This morning, this New Year’s Day, my heart is full. I couldn’t wait to sit with God this morning and thank Him for every possible thing I could think of that He did for me in 2013. We sat together for quite a while.

At the same time, my heart is also a bit sad.

Although today represents new beginnings for many of us, the flip-side is that thousands of people will make resolutions they won’t keep – like losing weight, stopping smoking, spending more time with God, having more fun in life, making more time for family… the list goes on. They’ll start off with the best of intentions. They’ll even do well for a week or two. Maybe even a month. But then it happens. They blow it.

How sad.

But not for the reasons you might be thinking.

The sad part is not that people won’t keep their resolutions. (Heck, I don’t even make resolutions anymore because I usually blow them within the first few days.) No, the unfortunate part is that they’ll forget they can start over again. Tomorrow. And the day after tomorrow. And the next.

So, instead of wiping the dirt off and trying again, they’ll succumb to their failures. They’ll think things like… I blew it again… I’ll never be able to get this… Forget it… Maybe next year…  

And that’s why I believe most of our resolutions never succeed. We stop trying. We forget that the road to success is paved with failures. If we would only place each failure in front of us and use it as a stepping stone, using each one as an instrument to propel us forward, instead of piling them up in front of us, only to impede our progress.

Maybe success is not about an end result. Maybe it’s about a way of living.

I am so glad God’s mercies and faithfulness are new every morning. I need a new batch every day! Did you know they’re available for you, too? Every single day.

So, here’s my challenge. Use His mercies. Use His faithfulness. The verse quoted at the beginning of this blog goes on to say…

I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.”  Lam. 3:24

Wait on Him. Make Him your everything. Then, give Him your failures, and let Him turn them into successes. Make that resolution, fail, and then try again. And again. And again… until, before you know it, you are well on the road to success!