A Healthy New Year's Resolution in 8 Words, 1 Simple Phrase

The new year is here.  It seems, as I look around social media these last few days, that 2017 was a year that a good number of people were glad to see end.

So what about 2018?  How will it be different?
One reality is certain: there are plenty of situations that will come to pass in the year 2018 that you and I will have little to no control over.  I am starting 2018 with one of those right now.  And I am sure there will be many more for me, and for you the reader as well.

But while we can't control everything in the next 365 days, there are some things we can control, and so to help you make a healthy and helpful New Year's Resolution, I'd like to offer these 8 words:

It did not have to be this way.

Those 8 words have worked there way into my vocabulary over the last year.  I honestly don't know where they came from, but again and again, I am finding myself saying them, and because of them a heart of gratitude has grown in me.  Thank you for that gift, God.

What do I mean by these words?  I mean to say that the grace of God is shown to us in a myriad of ways in each and every day, and yet we sometime take these gifts for granted.

Consider these examples:

I took this photo a little over a week ago as I headed into work one Sunday morning.  We have probably all seen beautiful sunrises and sunsets over the years.  But now apply those eight words I mentioned above and consider that God was under no obligation to make the sunrise ever look like this.  There was nothing forcing Him to make it awe-inspiring, and yet He did.  And so we can be thankful that even though it did not have to be this way, it is this way.

Each year, literally tens of thousands of people travel to New Hampshire (my home state) to see the leaves change.  But it did not have to be this way.  As you look at the photo above, let us all realize that the leaves could transform from green to brown in an instant and then fall from the trees, dead.  But many do not - many of them transform from green to orange or gold or red or a mix of all these colors.  What a gift.  It did not have to be this way, but it is this way.

Have you ever considered laughter?  Why do we laugh?  Not so much how does it physically occur, but why does it even happen at all?  What a gift that when we find something humorous we can laugh, and laugh with others, and sometimes laugh so hard we even cry.
It did not have to be this way,  but it is this way.

And the list goes on and on.
Beauty in nature, beauty in the storms, family - all of these blessings are too easily taken for granted, and so we should recall again and again that there was nothing that obligated God to make the world wonderful.  But He did.  It did not have to be this way, but it is this way.

Realizing these daily gifts, these gifts of common grace - this will stir our hearts to affection and thankfulness (a concept found all over the Bible - see here).

If we can ask God to open our eyes to see His grace and goodness all around, our heart and lives will be changed.  "Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." - 1 Thessolonians 5:18

May God cultivate in us a sense of wonder for all the good gifts He has given to us.

It did not have to be this way, but it is this way.  

And for this we are thankful.

- tC

My Sabbath Day Experince: No Smart Phone and How It Felt

( Photo by Stuart Miles - FreeDigitalPhotos.net)

Today was my sabbath...sort of.  When I say sabbath, I mean it was my day of rest, of stopping, of ceasing.  Sabbath actually doesn't mean 'rest' but instead it was the final day of the week in the Hebrew world.  But rather than get into that discussion, I wanted to tell you about my day of rest in hopes that it might encourage you to think about rest and ceasing and restoration.

Why take a sabbath?
Paul tells us that we are no longer under law but instead are under grace (Romans 6:14).  So that means we are not saved and loved by God because we follow all the commands perfectly (over 600 in the Old Testament alone).  We are loved by God because of the work of Christ on the Cross.  And so if that's the case, why bother thinking about or having a day of rest?  Well here are 3 reasons that strike me.

1. The rhythm of creation  described in Genesis 1-2 ends with God resting. He is God so it's not as if He was tired (see John 5:17), but He rested as a picture to humans of a work-rest rhythm.  God saw it fit to work and to rest, and He even made the natural world have that same rhythm - growing, producing, and then resting.  Since God saw it fit in His creation of the universe to show us and talk about rest, it seems worth considering.

2. Jesus said very clearly in Mark 2:23-27 that man wasn't made for the sabbath but that sabbath was made for man.  By saying this He was telling His hearers that man is not subordinate to the notion of sabbath, but that God gave sabbath to bless.

3. I need sabbath.  It remind me of many thing that I need to recall.
- It reminds me to rest when my tendency is to want to produce
- It reminds me that God is in control of all things
- It reminds me that I have a tendency to make myself too much the center of things
- It reminds me that the world continues to function just fine even when I am not active

My sabbath experience
Because I am a pastor and Sunday is a work day for me, and because we have 2 young children, 'rest' and sabbath look a bit different in this stage of life.  Today Jenny and I split the day and each had about 4 hours to sabbath.  We ended the day together by buying a pizza, eating with the kids, watching a short kids devotional on YouTube, and then getting them ready for bed.  It was good for me to not 'do' so much today.  I drove, I prayed, I had a meal, I went to the gym, I journaled - I did things that would help restore me for work in the week to come.

(Located on Facebook - artist unknown)

I also didn't use my cell phone other than to be in touch with people with whom I wanted to speak.  That meant no e-mail (work or personal), no Facebook, no YouTube - nothing.  And while I wasn't itching to tweet something or scroll through Facebook updates, I did notice one thing I had not noticed before: I enjoy e-mail because I get things done on e-mail.  I reply, I update, I get meetings planned, and more. It was interesting to experience that desire to 'do', and so I had to battle and say with the Psalmist that God is my reward and He is the one that truly satisfies - "LORD, You alone are my portion and my cup" (Psalm 16:5).  

This post isn't to give you all the info you need to Sabbath well.  It's to share part of my experience with you and to ask you a few questions:
- Do you take a day of rest during the week?
- Do you say you 'can't afford to'?  
- What does rest look like for you?  What does ceasing mean for you?
- What is God calling you to as you reflect on this idea of rest?
- Do you need faith to trust Him enough to rest?

Be blessed.  Rest.
- tC