And so we are off and running. A new year with new expectations, new visions, new dreams, new excitement, new anticipation. It is amazing the difference one day can make, going from Dec 31st to Jan 1. 2011, bring it on!
I am sure that many, if not all of you, will take time to look forward, dream, plan, develop strategies, set goals, establish mile markers, and overall, set a focus for the year ahead.
I want to encourage you to also take a glance backward. Look at both what you did accomplish in 2010 and what you were unable to see become a reality. As you take a few minutes and do that, thank the Lord for His grace that enabled you to launch the new idea, venture, ministry, small group, or church plant. Rejoice in the taking of new ground! You have been created to take new ground. Never become stagnant in your life, always aggressively progressive.
But then, take some time and look back at what you were unable to see realized. What were the limiting factors that held you back? Where they real, beyond your control, or was it things that distracted you that kept you from achieving your goals? Fears? Insecurities? Circumstances? Where they real or where some of them imagined? Sometimes it is easier to do the easy things instead of the hard things and we never get to the hard things because our lives fill up with the easy, convenient, pressing at the moment, kind of things. And we come to the end of a season that was filled with promise but ended in disappointment due to unrealized goals and dreams. I know I sure had some challenges in 2010. Some things were of my own making, revealing weaknesses in me. Those weaknesses are the areas of focus for me in 2011.
Learn from what you were able to accomplish, but more importantly learn from what you were unable to complete. If you do not change what hindered you in 2010, it will continue to hinder you in 2011. And isn’t that the plan of the enemy? To contain you, hold you back, keep you in check. My encouragement for you in 2011 is to go for the BIG WIN! What eluded you in 2010 is to become a reality in 2011. Go for it!!
Declaring Our Victory Emmanuel