Sunday’s With Syd: “A New Hope For The New Year”

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.”-1 Peter 1:3 (NASB)

It is finally 2021! A new year full of so many possibilities and so much hope. I’m sure we have all prepared for this moment with vision boards, new planners, setting New Year resolutions and so much more. There’s something so exciting about a fresh start and each new year brings just that.

But unfortunately, before we are even half way through the year, so much of that momentum dies out. Our resolutions are gone, vision boards are forgotten about and our planners are no longer being used. But, why?

We fall into the same cycle of inconsistency and put ourselves into a box of failure. We fall off track once and feel too defeated to try agin. We never fully forgive ourselves for leaving goals unaccomplished from the previous year and adopt these failures almost as if they are personality traits. 2020 was so hard for so many people that it will be hard to move forward and forgive ourselves for the low points we reached last year. but what we need to cling to more than anything is the fact that God is with is in this year and each year to come. The hope we have in him should overshadow any doubt that we have in ourselves.

It is not God’s intention that we should dwell on the past. His mercies are renewed each morning so that each day we can take on each day in his strength and not our own. Last year may have been extremely hard and brought so many terrible truths to light. But with every season of hardships, lessons and questions the following season of blessings, answers and flourishing is that much more beautiful. Let’s trust God in this new year and accept that it will be full of highs and lows but his guiding presence will remain constant through it all.

Take time to think of one or two words that will set the tone for your new year so that whenever you feel discouraged you can refer back to these words that will help chart the course for your year.

My two words for this year are FORGIVENESS and CONSISTENCY and here’s why. I am embarking on a new season of motherhood in the next few weeks and I know how difficult it will be adapting to life as a mother of two. I want to prioritize forgiveness for myself, my husband, my babies as the adjust to each other and just for others in general. I want peace to remain a priority in this season of my life so I need the ability to forgive myself and those around me when we stumble and fall short. Consistency is my second word to set the tone for the year because I’ve noticed that it’s something that I definitely lack and God laid it on my heart to be something that I focus on this year. I come to him with so many goals and dreams for my life but stop short of doing the work on my end to achieve those goals. That ends this year.

Let’s take on this year with grace and trust that God will provide everything we need for an abundant and successful year. And when we face difficulties this year, let’s trust him even more to steer us through our tough seasons. ❤️