“I missed it!” she exclaimed in a disappointed voice layered with frustration. For the first year, our youngest stayed awake excitedly anticipating the New Year’s Eve ball descend over the crowded New York streets. For the next few minutes, my attempts to explain the slow, steady progress fell on young, deaf ears. She expected a sudden drop, an immediate change.
My sweet girl’s problem didn’t stem from her not watching, but rather from her perspective while watching. Cameras shifting back and forth from the glistening ball to the people celebrating on the streets disguised the progress of what was actually happening.
Oh, how I can relate. In life, I’ve skewed my perspective of God’s movement choosing to laser in on my plans, my purposes, and my passions. Dancing to the beat of my own drum, I’ve tangoed right past what God was doing, only later to trip over my own feet. Like my daughter, I’ve anticipated a significant radical “ball drop,” leaving me with the disappointment of unmet expectations.
What about you? Have you ever missed the small moments of God’s movement because you expected something different? Perhaps a quicker route or a completely different path?
I am stubbornly guilty. Knowing God’s ways are higher than mine, I continue down a path I’ve set for myself. With limited vision, I have limited His decisions. While He promises He will lead and instruct me in the way I should go, I’ve often tried to lead the way, expecting Him to catch up with my plans.
Consistently, I have to remind myself. His ultimate plan for all humanity is simply this: know Him, become like Him, and make Him know. But like any destination, there are many different routes we can take. Some paths will lead us closer to our destination, while others can leave us stranded on a desert road without a spare tire. Your route will probably look different than someone else’s, and that’s okay. The key is not to miss the route He has planned for us because we’re too busy to take it, too distracted and miss it, or too set in our ways to relinquish it. What if this year we use that key to unlock:
- Small sovereign steps of obedience helping us scale mighty mountains.
- Anchored vision on Him allowing a perfect perspective for progress.
- Looking for God’s divine fingerprint rather than the completed blueprint.
What would the next year look like if we truly understood His timing is more accurate than a glowing ball counting down the seconds on New Year’s Eve? How would our lives be different a year from now if we fully believed God knows the exact timing of every step in every direction of every life? That led by Him we can accomplish more in one day than we ever could on our own in a thousand years.
Let’s make this the year we all I proclaim with certainty: “Thy will be done on earth – in my life – as it is in heaven.”
Every week this year, we will explore a new word. A focus word intended to draw us one step closer to knowing Him, becoming like Him, and making Him known. Because the journey of a thousand miles begins with one step (-Lao Tzu). I hope you’ll join along!
Blessings on your new year, as you lean not on your own understanding but rest on Him to make your paths straight.
Esther
Verses to meditate upon:
Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3:5-6
But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Matthew 6:33
But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. 2 Peter 3:8-9
In their hearts humans plan their course, but the LORD establishes their steps. Proverbs 16:9
Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring. Proverbs 27:1
