Have you ever run a race and gotten to the finish line, having put in a lot of work in preparation and execution, and then just been exhausted? At that point, I don’t know about you, but the last thing that I want to do is go run another race. I just want to sit down, rest and recuperate….probably watching a good slow moving movie or something like that.
This situation is very similar to the one we are in every year, when the year comes to a close. We rush and strain and work to finish out the year in our businesses, in our hobbies, clubs and other interests. If you are a musician, you are usually performing in loads of Christmas concerts and different things. If you are a teacher, you are trying to get all the grades done and in before you go on Christmas break and the year ends… Far too often, we come to the end of the year exhausted…only to look up and see another starting line that begins on January 1st or soon after.
It can be daunting. How do you muster the energy to start again? Where should you start?
One of the best things to do when you come to the end of the year is to take some time to reflect on the past year. Take some few moments (doesn’t have to be long) and review the previous year. Mark the good things and thank God for them. Mark the bad things, and thank God that you are still here regardless of the wear and tear. If there’s something you should learn from, mark that down and ask God to help you implement that in your life. If you can’t see anything, ask God to show you the lesson, and then write down what He tells you over the next few days in your Bible reading and in your prayer times.
Ask God where He wants you to focus for the next year. Are there things you can do? Are there places He wants you to direct your attention?
The new start is not always a grind but an opportunity. Have you become slack in spending time with God daily in the Word and through prayer? Start a new habit. Put it on your calendar every day, and guard that time. Is your calendar too heavy? Well, start with the important things – time with God, your church, your family, your job – and then look to cut in the other areas.
The perfect start isn’t always the fastest one, and often, in a marathon, such as life, that can be the worst one. The perfect start often is the slow and the steady, the putting of the one foot in front of the other, again and again, in a sustainable manner, realizing that in a year, it’s not how far you go or how much you do, but how you do it. As I always tell the people at Bay West, you can always be successful in any moment by simply seeking God’s direction and honoring Him with the next decision you make in that moment.
The perfect start to every endeavor, whether a year or a project, is the step that honors God the most and then repeating that assessment of everything you do moment by moment, decision by decision, step by step and honestly, start by start.
Jim is the Campus Pastor and Primary Communicator at Bay West Church, which meets at Heritage High School Sundays at 10am. For more info on Bay West Church, check us out at facebook.com/baywestchurch or www.baywestchurch.org. Bay West Church is a campus of First Baptist Church of Melbourne.
