2020: The year of faith

Happy New Year when it comes, family! I hope as we ring in the new year this week, that it will be a time of joy, peace and love for you. If you’re like me, then this is also a time of reflection and planning for the year ahead.

Lately, I have been thinking over the last time I read through the Bible, as one huge story from start to finish. I love doing this because every time I do, there is a different insight that the Lord allows me to see.

This time, I was overcome with the faithfulness of God to us and the sheer magnitude of His promises to us in His Word. There are promises of God for every circumstance of life – peace, protection, provision, relationships, healing, career, purpose, and the list goes on. This was a powerful reminder that God has already anticipated my needs and wants; He already understands my anxieties, fears, and pains; and, He already knows the plans He has for my life.

This reminder fills me with such excitement for the future! Instead of being anxious or filled with fear of the future, I can look forward with hope that God is using my days for good and His glory.

As we look ahead to 2020, I encourage you to set some standards for how you want to live your life. For me, I have set the standard that I will live this year by faith. No matter what goals or resolutions I want to achieve, at the end of the day I will live by faith.

Without faith, the great plans that God has will just remain plans, rather than realities. Faith is what sustains you and keeps you, even in those difficult times; it is more than just wishful thinking.

Mark 11: 22-23 (NIV) says, “Have faith in God,” Jesus answered. “Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them.”

You see, God is the one with the power to move mountains and our faith is what moves God to action. What we need for 2020 is growing, mountain-moving faith! So, how do we actively and continually grow our faith?

Recount what God has done already

“Remember the wonders he has done, his miracles, and the judgments he pronounced…” 1 Chronicles 16:12 (NIV). In the Old Testament, every time the Israelites had a victory, they would build a memorial as a reminder that God brought them the breakthrough. This is important for us to do, as well. Maybe not with an altar, but we need to record God’s actions in our lives because it establishes in our minds that God is a faithful God. It reminds us that God is good and He is there, especially in the moments when our present circumstances would cause us to believe that we are abandoned and unloved.

We often fall into the trap of getting frustrated when we don’t have; however, when we take an inventory of what God has already provided, we would rejoice instead.

Since “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever” (Hebrews 13:8 NKJV), we can live in peace that if God did it for us in the past, He can do those things and more in the future. When we start with what God has already done in our lives, we open our eyes to recognise all that God wants to do in 2020 and beyond.