A Reflection of the Past Year (2011)

So another year has passed.  In the midst of such a crazy and event-filled year, between all the ups and downs of my spiritual life, and during all the harsh and beautiful moments of life, God was there.  He's been there for every bit of it.  I've learned so many things from Him.  Some highlights are as follows:


- No matter how many times I've left Him, abandoned Him, denied Him, or whatever the situation may be, He Himself has remained faithful to me. (2 Timothy 2.11-13)

- He is my provider.  From giving me a small source of income because I was proving faithful through paying my tithes, to answering a prayer about money.  (It was actually getting Government funding for school...money which, by all natural standpoints and circumstances, should not have been granted to me...but it was all the same.)

- He's given me so much more grace than I deserve.  Which is why it's called grace (or unmerited favour).  I don't deserve it, yet He has given it to me, is giving it to me, and will continue to give it to me.  (Now we're working on me extending that same grace - and more - to those around me, whether they deserve it or not).

- He showed me how to be perfected in love, that I might not dwell in fear.  I've had some pretty big fear issues in the past...the biggest one being the fear of death.  When reading the book of 1 John multiple times one week in March, I was reading over the verse that says perfect love casts out fear (1 John 4.18).  In wondering how to be perfected in love so that all fears would leave me, I was reading over chapter four, and a few verses prior to verse 18, it gives the answer!  It says "...If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us (verse 12)."  What a wonderful realization, and one that has been so relevant to my life, especially being back home and learning to love my family with God's heart.

- Prayer.  It's such a powerful tool - it can be argued that it's the most powerful tool that we, as Christians, have access to.  It can change people, change nations, change the spiritual realm.  It's incredible, and I'm sure I've barely scratched the surface in my discovery of just how powerful it is.

- The armour of God.  I realized how vitally important it is that I arm myself with it every single day.  Because on the days that I don't, I'm more susceptible to attacks from the enemy - whether it be him trying to push depression back on me, getting irritated easily, or any other number of things.  It's a good thing to remember that we are always in a spiritual battle, and if we don't properly arm ourselves, it can only bode ill.

- God uses me.  And I'm so humbled by it.  He can use me to pray for others, to encourage them, or even to just lend a listening ear.  I want Him to continue to use me in any way possible, without my own self getting in the way (or my pride, which is even more likely).  He's spoken through me to encourage others in such minor, and even major, ways that have helped them in some way, shape, or form.  And when I find out about times when I've talked with someone, or even just said something that I didn't think mattered at the time, God has taken what I've said or done, and used it to help a friend.  Every time I think about it, I am so honoured that He would choose to use me in such ways, as small as they may seem.  Because they aren't small to the people who have been affected, and they aren't small to me, because any way that He can use me to reach others, is something that I am willing to have happen.


I'll leave it at that for now.  Those are only some of the highlights that I can think of, but I'm sure there's so much more that God's done - both big and small, but all significant.  I'm so grateful for everything that has passed with 2011.

And so here's to the new year, my dear, dear friends.  Here's to a year that beholds the unknown.  Here's to a year that is filled with seemingly impossible dreams waiting to be fulfilled.  Here's to a year that is just waiting to be lived.  Here's to a year that holds the unthinkable.

Here's to the past; not that we might live in it, in it's regrets and mistakes, but that we may learn from our less-than-honourable choices, and use them as road maps to guide us to make better choices.  Here's to the present; may we use it properly in the sense of not letting such a gift go to waste.  Here's to the future; no matter what it may have in store, we know that we can remain in God's peace, because when we surrender our lives to Him, He will make sure to keep us safe, healthy, joyful, prosperous, and every other wonderful thing.

“My love be with you all in Christ Jesus.”
- 1 Cor. 16.24