Life is full of disappointments, dead-ends, and disasters.  Each one of us makes mistakes, fails, and sins.  All of us deal with the same struggles, whether they originate with other people or are the working of our own hands. Frustrating events are going to happen to everyone.   

The difference in humanity is how you respond to challenging situations.  You cannot control what happens to you, but you have a choice as to how you will react physically, verbally, and relationally. 

When Paul tells the Church in the region of Galatia about the Christian life, he describes what he calls the fruit of the Spirit.  These are the attitudes and actions that come out of a follower of Jesus.  They are love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. (Galatians 5:22-23 – NIV 2011) 

Recently I noticed that most of these are descriptions of how we respond to situations, particularly the difficult ones.  When greeted with hostility, we respond in love.  When things are dark and gloomy, we have joy.  If people want to fight, we offer peace.  As difficulties mount, we forbear.  We offer the world kindness and gentleness to encounters where others might not be so kind or gentle.  Believers control themselves at times when we feel like losing control. 

The fruit of the Spirit is a force of active good as we live for Jesus, but they are also for the reactive good as we respond to the world.  People know we are Christians by our love, but how powerful is that love when it is a response to hate?   

It was a Sunday morning when I was informed that my father was gone. Since then, not a day has gone by that I have not thought about him at one point. His words, laughter, love of Indiana University basketball, and the way he loved his grandchildren fill my mind and soul. Every time I call my mom, the label in my contacts still pops up as “Mom and Dad,” and I can’t bring myself to change the name yet.

Here is what has caught me off guard this past year: I remember how we didn’t always get along well. In high school, I was mad at him once for a disagreement that I swore to myself I would leave home after graduation and never return. While in college, there were times that I did not want to go home for the long list of questions he would ask about my life. As a new parent, he was angry with me one time for a choice I made that I told myself he would never see my boys if he acted that way. The years with him were a roller coaster of good times and bad – just like every relationship.

No matter how many times I thought I would move on in life without him, we always found a way to forgive and move past our differences. Now my life has indeed gone on without him, and it hurts more than I imagined. Sometimes it causes me to stop and smile. On other occasions, like right now, I cry.

Through the years, I have used this day to tell people the joy I have found in my faith that dad is with Jesus. I have written for children of all ages to contact their dad if he is alive. My experience has shown me the power of a father in the life of a child. Today I want you to take a minute to appreciate the differences between you and your old man. Perhaps no relationship is as volatile as a parent and child, but your differences form you into the adult you have become today. Some of your actions are a rejection of his and others an imitation.

I miss you, dad. Even though we didn’t always get along, our relationship is what made me who I am today, and for that, I am grateful.

Every year I vow, some might call it resolving, that I will be a better Christian than the previous year.  I am going to sin less if I sin at all.  The mistakes of the year will be left behind in my new and improved lifestyle. 

We are seven days into the new year, and I already need grace.  If I am honest with you, I needed it after one day, but I gave myself a mulligan for the first failure.  By now, there is a long list of my godless behavior that is too extensive to ignore or excuse. 

During the Christmas season, I repeat the same stories every year about a baby coming as God in the flesh, the promised Messiah, and the one who saves people from their sins.  It is a message I am sure people get tired of hearing over and over.  Some may think, “Yeah, I understand grace; let’s talk about something else.  Maybe a topic more relevant to today like marriage or parenting or how to be a good person.” 

Here we are just seven days past the new year, and I am reminded why this truth must be repeatedly shared.  Our sin is ever-present, and we do not live up to our standards, let alone God’s.  As John says at the beginning of his account of the life of Jesus, we need “grace upon grace.” 

This week I returned to my office after taking ten days off work.  It was a much-needed break after a long year filled with work, changes, and unusual decisions.  When I say I took these days off, I mean I took them off completely.  I stopped reading my Bible, doing my Core52 workbook, listening to sermons, reading, and exercising.  The only thing I did was pray during the time.  Otherwise, I shut my brain down into low gear for the holidays. 

It was terrific to clear my head and get out of my routine.  This year has been draining, and I needed time to recharge my emotional battery for the year that lies ahead.  Once I was done resting, I found it extremely difficult to get going again.  In just ten days, I found my drive was gone.  It was hard for me to push myself back into a routine once I had left it.  Monday morning came early, exercise was draining, and I just wanted to quit. I was drowsy during my Bible reading and struggled to get anything done.  It took ten days to unravel months of daily patterns. 

This past year, many of us had to change our habits.  We stepped back from Church, from serving others, especially in the body of Christ, from godly relationships, and from the Christian activities that generally fill each week.  Now comes the hard part, somehow you have to get back to a good and Godly place.  Now it is time to call upon all the Spirits’ powers to get back into emotionally, physically, and spiritually healthy routines. 

Everyone needs a break sometimes.  We need moments of rest and recalibration.  The difference between people who have successful seasons in life and those who live continually productive lives is not the downtime they take.  It is the drive to get going again once they have had taken their time off.  Getting started is half the battle and getting started again is the other half. 

Everyone wants to thrive.  We want to be world changers, innovators, change agents, and people who will alter history for good.  We desire to live extraordinary lives that leave an impact on the next generation.  Believers pray, “God use me to make a difference in this world.”

While those are noble desires, we must remember that the Bible sometimes instructs us in simpler ways.   We are called to make disciples of all nations and be witnesses to the ends of the earth in ways that turn the world upside down, but we are also told to stand firm, persevere, hold fast, and never give up.  There are times in our faith when life gets complicated.  Some days, weeks, seasons, and years it is enough to hang on tight to what we believe.  There are times it takes courage to keep swinging our fists as we fight the good fight.  Sometimes it is enough to survive and not thrive.

For some of us, the past year was tough.  The good news is that you are still here and trying to do your best for God.  This could be the year you come back stronger than ever before and change the world.  If not, keep doing the right things and live to fight another day.

My social media feeds have been ablaze with everyone’s goals, plans, and dreams for the coming year. The past year was rough on so many people that they vowed to have a better one. The belief is that if we throw ourselves into the right routines and rituals, we can make the next year better than the last, or at least have some resemblance to normal.

I want to suggest that as you are writing your “to-do list” of the coming year, you also have a “NOT to-do list.” There are some things that I hope you do not try to recover to make things feel normal again. Quite possibly, the existence of your long list of things to accomplish is the first step in the wrong direction.

There are innumerable things we can do in the coming year. We can develop routines that give us control over the things we can control. My one word of warning is not to attempt to return to normal if your normal was not godly or healthy.

One of the most significant issues COVID-19 fixed for many people was the chronic busy lifestyle people try to live. We rush from activity to activity with our phone in hand as we attempt to be productive every minute of the day. COVID-19 forced us to slow down and change our schedules. We made time to sit and read, eat together, play a game, study the Bible, put together a puzzle, pray, or have a family night.

My encouragement is for us not to load our schedules and fill up every minute with activity. Use the past year to achieve a new normal – one with space for relationships with God, family, and one another.

Expectancy is defined as the hope that something better will happen in the future.

2021 is full of expectancy. Like almost everyone else, I am filled with excitement to see us throw the old calendar in the trash and start a new year. Yet, I know that God was at work last year, and he will continue to build his kingdom in ways that startle and surprise.

The only thing different in the coming year will be how humans behave. That part is always unexpected.

My expectancy is a hope that people will do something better in the future. May His kingdom come through you and me.

Over the course of a year, I read and listen to hundreds of ways to improve my life. I have heard how to be a better human, son, husband, brother, father, preacher, employee, neighbor, leader, visionary, boss, and Christian. There is a long list of possible ways to improve over this next year. Honestly, most of them are good advice. I have kept articles, saved notes, and tried to keep track of all the superb instructions I have received.

But here is my encouragement for you: Focus on only 2-4 things to work on this coming year. That is it. You may not be able to improve every area of your life this year, but you can work on a couple of things that will make you a better Christian and a better person.

Last year I focused on two things: People and Positive. I needed to spend more time with people and develop a more positive attitude. That was all I tried to do, and COVID made it a challenge in every area of my life. So, for 2021, I am putting my attention on the same two areas. I am merely adding one more thing to my list: Soul care. This year was mentally, emotionally, and spiritually draining to me, and I need to take some time to recharge my battery. These are all the things I hope to accomplish in the coming year. Everything else is just an added blessing.

The person who attempts to do 12 things usually does none of them. The longer the list, the more likely you are to quit and usually quit quickly. The more focused your plan, the greater your chance of success. What if this year you tried to do less so that you could accomplish more and one year from now be a better follower of Jesus?

Before you make all your resolutions and plans for the next year, be sure to spend some time reflecting on the past year. Socrates is credited with saying, “An unexamined life is not worth living.” This means we need to think critically about ourselves while analyzing our behaviors and their results.

What successes and failures did you experience in the past year? Have your relationships improved or become distant over the months? Have you tried any new ventures or challenges that have been rewarding? How have you grown spiritually in the twelve months?

This type of personal scrutiny will help you see areas you need to improve and places you are doing well. They will help you know what to keep doing and what to stop doing in the coming months.

Be sure and take 15 minutes this week and think carefully about the past year. These few moments of reflection can be the fuel you need to make the coming year a time of growth in every arena of your life. Don’t waste the experiences of the past year or the opportunities of the coming year. Please make the most of every year because we get so precious few of them.