It’s closing time for 2023. How was your year? Did you accomplish all the things you wanted? Did you keep the resolutions you made?

The final days of December always feel a bit strange to me, full of contradictions. I find myself reflecting on the past year, while also contemplating the year ahead.

For this blog, let’s focus on the future.

The New Year prompts many people to set goals, make resolutions, and render promises, both to themselves and to others. The year begins with grand intentions and great expectations. Some will attempt a dry January hoping to set a new standard for wellness, others join a gym aiming to improve fitness, while others hang their hats on hope asserting it’ll be a better year than the last.

Sometimes, we’re not more than a few weeks into the new year before discovering that our plans have already gone off the rails.

Resolutions can be tough to keep, and I know a lot of people who simply refuse to make them because dealing with failure is not fun.

I don’t think, however, we should give up on hope or goal setting because we’re afraid of failure. What I’m suggesting is this: We don’t beat ourselves up and cave into discouragement when our plans, resolutions, and expectations go unmet. I know that self-loathing and surrender come easily in those moments when we fall short and have let ourselves or others down, and it’s easy to throw in the towel and hate on ourselves.

Don’t do it.

Instead, forgive yourself. Don’t condemn yourself. Allow space to be disappointed, accept that you’re human, and then keep trying. Linger in the ray of hope that tomorrow is a new day, a new beginning, a new chance to try again. Motivational speaker Denis Waitley once said: Failure should be our teacher, not our undertaker.

This past year, I have set goals and made promises about the publishing of my blogs, however, I fell short. I missed delivering on some of my intended timelines. Discouragement set in for a while, and then I became distracted. But it’s soon a new year and I will allow myself to accept my past complacency and begin anew with the passion I have for sharing stories that encourage others and point people to God. 

As we face the New Year of 2024, don’t be afraid to set goals, aspire for improvement, hope for better. If you fall short, it’s okay. Consider it a pause, not a hard stop. Take a breath, remind yourself why you’re doing what it is you’re doing, and take it one day at a time.

Remember, as you go through the year, that you are not alone. You have a Helper who is faithful and whose mercies are new each morning. Rest in the great faithfulness of God – his steadfast love and mercy are greater than any failure we may encounter. 

Matthew 28:20 | And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.

Wanna pray?

God, only you know what the year ahead holds for each of us. Help us to focus on you and trust in your plans and purposes for our lives. Let us accept your timing in all things and in all the days ahead. Great is thy faithfulness!