A belated Happy New Year to you! My first post of 2019, and already a month has passed by - I doubt I'm alone in feeling a slight sense of disbelief. Time slips by and it catches you unawares, leaving you surprised and perhaps a little shocked, concerned about how you've spent your days. Have I done all I can? Am I making good choices? Have I started what I hope to continue throughout the year?
At the risk of sounding like a broken record on this blog, I still find myself sitting in the rubble from time to time. While the unmaking of my world has begun, it brings with it a lot of questions. For example, if I have become burnt out with all my attempts to be a successful author, how can I rediscover the joy of writing, and what will my creative output look like in the future? I still have dreams and ambitions, but will I just repeat the mistakes I've made in the past?
In other words, I have let anxiety and self-doubt fall heavily on my shoulders. A new beginning, a new year brings great opportunity, but it can also bring expectation and confusion. Are you feeling in a similar place? I imagine that some of you are.
During one of my recent 'rubble visits', I turned to the Bible and found Colossians 3:23: "...whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men." I've always read this verse in a way that emphasises the importance of doing - working for the Lord, getting it right.
But as I read the words again, the emphasis shifted. Whatever. Whatever you do...it offers the possibility of grace. The possibility that no matter what I do, there is capacity for God to be glorified.
We may find ourselves in a place of struggle, or pain, or with hard decisions to make. But He is the God of 'whatever'. Whatever is in your life, whatever your work or wounds, there is room for grace when we turn our eyes to the Lord - and not to men.