Resets

The upcoming celebration of the new year is probably the most infamous pivot point for sparking the desire to make changes or get things in our lives organized. I would argue, though, that those resets happen at other times as well. For those with kiddos, school both starting and letting out probably comes to mind. Maybe you decide at the end of May that you will have a more (or less) organized schedule for the summer days than last year, or that when school starts back up, you’re finally going to create that chore chart you’ve been talking about for years. 

There are also resets connected to work. For example, the staff here at NPNaz are going on a planning retreat and mapping out the calendar year the first week of January, but we also have a natural reset in the spring when the church year ends and we tackle budgets, vote on new board members, reflect on where we have been and where we are heading as a church family, etc. My point is this - at least a few times throughout the year we are resetting and making plans or changes of all kinds (that sometimes we follow through with, and other times, well, you know…). 

I don’t think it’s wrong to set goals that help us to become holistically healthier people and communities. I also don’t think it’s wrong to desire to be organized or to plan ahead. It is good to take time to adjust our priorities, which if we’re honest can have a tendency to get out of whack quickly if we’re not careful. Having plans to look forward to can be comforting. And in this day and age, it can be very loving to get important things with friends and family on the calendar early in order to protect them from the craziness that ensues during the year. Where we cross the line, I think, is when we start to lift up our plans and ideas about what is best for us above God’s better plans for us. 

We have to be willing to hand over our calendars and planners to God. Again, I’m not suggesting we throw those things out and just wing everything (although I know some people thrive on that). Instead, I’m suggesting that we humbly remember that each day belongs to the Lord. Read this passage from James chapter 4: 

13 Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” 14 Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. 15 Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” 

You might have an idea of what you want to happen tomorrow or even 5 months and 3 days from now, but are you willing to open your hands to God and say, “I give each day to you”? Are you willing to relinquish control? Are you willing to throw out anything in your plans that does not align with God’s will for you, or to make room for something you’re being called to do? 

Who knows what could happen between now and this time next year. Who knows how long we’ll have breath in our lungs; after all, we are just a mist. Our time here is not endless. This doesn’t mean we should give up and just indulge in whatever brings us pleasure and forget about responsibilities or helping others. Instead, it means we can’t waste any opportunity to wake up and seek God’s direction. 

So, I say keep planning and dreaming and mapping things out, but do so without making your plans your god. Operate under the firm understanding that God’s will is best, and be ready to be obedient to God, even if the end result of that obedience doesn’t line up with your plans.