Embracing the New Year

The Christmas tree was dragged into the woods leaving a thick trail of needles on the floor behind. Boxes of lights and ornaments have been pushed far back into the closet under the stairs. The fireplace is now bare, stripped of the colorful cards that have adorned it for weeks. Dick Clark looks and sounds as if he is plastic, dressed in a tuxedo, spray tanned and propped up in the midst of Time Square. The confetti went up and the ball came down at midnight. Right on schedule. Christmas is gone. The new year is here. I am faced with finding and embracing a new season. A new life. The wonder and magic of Christmas, the peace and joy of times spent with family, the hope of seeing the ones you love are now fading into last year. I don't feel happy.
I must walk into my new year, my new life.
I have been studying the life of Abraham with the ladies in my bible study group. On the morning of Christmas eve I was reading and praying when God spoke very clearly to me. I had been thinking about the long journey Abraham had been on. He started out in Mesopotamia, the land of Ur which is where modern day Iraq is located. After God told him He wanted him to go to a place he did not yet know, he left Ur and traveled to Haran (modern day Turkey) and then headed south to Canaan (the land that would become Israel). Because of a famine in the land, he continued further and went to Egypt. After a long stay in Egypt, he turned around and went back to Canaan where God came to him in a vision. God promised to give the land to Abraham and his descendants. Abraham had arrived at his destination. Not once, but twice. Traveling with his wife, Sarai and his nephew, Lot and all their possessions, over thousands of miles he had finally reached his destination. Setting out to obey a God he did not know, he learned to follow through his disobedience as much as his obedience. The  traveled on donkeys and camels, through deserts and mountains, for years looking for a place they did not know. Where did they sleep at night? What did they eat? What kept them from being food for the jackals at night? Where was God and why was it so difficult to know where he wanted them to go and what he wanted them to do? They had no children of their own. Their nephew, Lot was an orphan. They had no place to go and they didn't know where they were supposed to be heading. They only knew one thing, that God had said 'go to a place I will show you', so they went looking. When they arrived in Canaan the second time, after taking a side trip to Egypt which was the result of disobedience and not fully trusting in God they had acquired much livestock and many possessions. Abram and Lot felt it was necessary to go their separate ways so they would each have enough space for their flocks and herds. By this time Abraham and Sarai were old, well passed childbearing age. God came to Abraham in a vision at night and promised that not only would the land belong to him but that his descendants would be as numerous as the stars in the sky. This was unbelievable. Outrageous. But Abraham believed Him.
In all the years that had passed while on this journey, Abraham had been getting to know God. As God revealed Himself to Abraham, he began to understand God's character, first as the creator God, then as the provider and protector. Abraham began to worship God as his understanding deepened. He built and altar and called on His Name. As Abraham called on the Name of the Lord his heart was strengthened and his faith grew. He had not always been obedient, but he learned from each mistake and continued on his journey with God. He came to know God's sovereignty and called on Him as The Most High God. He recognized that God is the possessor of heaven and earth. He also came to understand that God is the One who could rescue him from his enemies and give victory in battle. When Abraham and his men went to rescue Lot from the hand of the enemy, God was his shield and his reward.
As Abraham stood with God under the stars that night, Abraham knew he had arrived at a new place in the journey. God had big plans for him. Even though the road had been long, and the journey hard, Abraham knew it was God who had been with him along the way to strengthen and help him. He was ready to embrace the new life God had for him.
'He believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness.' Gen. 15:6
He believed God for descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky. He believed Him for the land, as far as he could see; to the north, the south, east and west. He believed God for a new life. A new beginning. A new year.
On Christmas eve morning I was pondering all that I had learned about Abraham. I began praying, telling God that I wanted to believe Him like Abraham did. My journey has been long and hard, like yours I'm sure, and like Abraham's. Also like Abraham, God has revealed Himself to me along the way and I have learned to call on His Name. I too have arrived at a new place in my journey. A time of new beginning. New  hope. New life. Perhaps you have too. I asked God what I was supposed to believe Him for. I am certain that neither land nor descendants is what God is promising to me, so I asked Him. "God what promise do you want ME to believe you for?" I no sooner finished asking the question before God spoke the answer to me. As clear as day I heard His Word say to me, "I will never leave you or forsake you."
Selah
Let that sink in for a minute.
When I was tired from the journey,
feeling alone and afraid,
maybe even a little resentful and angry that I have to leave my old life behind,
God spoke to my heart and said, "I WILL NEVER LEAVE YOU OR FORSAKE YOU."
As I step over the bridge,
over the threshold into a new year, into a new life,
God has promised He is with me.
I am believing God as I step forward into 2012.