New Year

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“For a wide door for effective service has opened to me, and there are many adversaries.” 1 Corinthians 16:9

Go ahead.

Peek around the door.

That big door named 2021.

Ready or not, here we are in 2021!

We can stand in front of this door and fear what is on the other side, or we can step right in full of faith, knowing that God is there. You don’t have to stick your big toe in to test the waters. You can step in confidently and with certainty knowing that God is already there waiting for you.

One of my favorite names of God is “Jehovah Shammah,” which means “The Lord is There.” That’s right, He is already there in 2021.

Isn’t it beautiful that we just celebrated the birth of Jesus, Immanuel, God With Us and now we step into this new year and Shammah is already there?

No matter what is on the other side of this door, Shammah!

I think I will adopt this as my word for the year. Everything that I face this year, I will declare, “Shammah.”

We enter this door whether we want to or not, but who would not want to leave 2020, right? I know our unrealistic selves want to believe that tomorrow we will wake up and magically everything will be different. I’ve heard it said often, “I will be so glad when this year is over.” It sounds like we believe that with the flip of the calendar page, everything will be different.

But I actually do believe it WILL all be new and good.

You might ask, “Martha, do you believe a new calendar will make all the hurt go away and all the troubles end? Do you believe that all of this is good and more of the same is good?” Of course not, but I do know and believe that God is good and all that He does is good. (Psalms 119:68) He is a good, good God and He is the One that is overseeing everything. Because of this, there is no need to worry and fear what is on the other side of this new door.

Because Shammah is on the other side, we will encounter Him in this new year. We will know Him in more intimate ways. We will experience His power and provision like never before. He is not contained by time. He is eternal. He is the beginning and the end and He knows everything from the beginning. Each dawning day brings newness, freshness and great expectation.

I can tell you with confidence what awaits us on the other side of this door?

According to the word of God, loving kindness, compassion, mercy and faithfulness await us.

“The Lord’s loving kindnesses indeed never cease, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.” Lamentations 3:22-23

This scripture awakens us to the truth of each new day and each new year.

Yesterday is over and each new day brings

His loving kindness and compassion that never stop.

Who He is, is always the same standing there waiting for us.

Everyday of this year you will wake up to Faithfulness.

Did you notice that these verses come from the book of Lamentations, a book of lamenting? Jeremiah is lamenting, grieving the death of the city of Jerusalem. The internet says it is like a funeral dirge. Much of 2020 has felt like a funeral dirge and we have all grieved the death of someone or something.

Let’s back up one verse and we will find the key to transitioning from 2020 to 2021. Jeremiah pauses in the middle of the lament and recalls the goodness of God.

“This I recall to my mind, therefore I have hope.” Lamentations 3:21

He recalls, therefore He has hope.

The same can be true for you and me.

What are you recalling to mind today? The way you answer that question will bring you hope or fear and dread.

Will you recall the difficult things of 2020 or will you recall the goodness of God?

We choose.

And our choosing will determine what we will experience on the other side of this door of great opportunity.

I choose to believe Shammah...The Lord is There.

I choose to enter with my heart full of thanksgiving and praise.

I choose to let go of the hurts of yesterday.

I choose to forgive, forgive and forgive, because He forgave, forgave and forgave me.

I choose to enter with my arms wide open to embrace all that He has for me.

I choose to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord.

I choose to taste and see that the Lord is good.

I choose to open my eyes wide to opportunities to share His love.

I choose to incline my ears to hear His voice and obey more fully.

I choose to ponder the secret treasures He has given me in the difficult places.

I choose to live looking up, because this just might be the year that Jesus is going to call us to meet Him in the air!!!!!!

What will you choose?

SHAMMAH….THE LORD IS THERE!