Midweek Encouragement - "Looking Back . . . Moving Forward”

"Looking Back . . . Moving Forward"

Happy Last Wednesday of 2022! This period between Christmas and the New Year is when I like to take the opportunity to sit down to count the blessings God brought into my life in the last year. It’s also a great time to review the things I wanted to accomplish in 2022 and establish new goals and objectives for 2023. Maybe the following questions will help you “take a look in the mirror” and help you plan to be better in 2023:

Did I spend enough quality time with my friends and family?

Did I make any new friends?

Did I improve my physical health?

Did I learn anything new?

Did I experience anything new?

Did I help people without needing to take the credit for doing so?

Did I bring joy to someone?

Did I find ways to stretch myself and get out of my comfort zone?

         If I find I came up short on anyone of those questions, then that’s an area that I should consider improving next year. How did you fair in answering those questions? What will you do about it?

         I think it’s a good idea to make a list of the special events that will be happening in the coming year . . . birthdays, anniversaries, graduations, holidays . . . and then plan ways to make them unique and memorable. When I spend a lot of time focusing and investing my time on what God wants me to do and become, I discover that the payback in terms of personal satisfaction is huge if I’m pleasing Christ! What big events are you anticipating in 2023? Will you train to run a 5K? Take up a new hobby? What will you intend to do to try to get out of your comfort zone? Will you travel to an exotic location? Visit your family members who live far away and restore your relationship with them even if it won’t be comfortable?

         If you want to be your very best for the Lord, what will you do to improve your spiritual growth? Maybe you’ll be more intentional in knowing who your neighbors are and how you can serve them. Maybe you’ll become bolder in sharing your faith story. This is going to sound like a selfish suggestion, but what will you do to be a better you in 2023?  The better you personally become, the more interesting you’ll be to your peers, to those new friends you’ll meet, and to the people who claim to love you unconditionally.

         No matter what the New Year brings, don’t allow your presumed failures, or the things that didn’t go according to plan this year ruin the new opportunities you’ll face in the coming year. Concentrate instead at what you did well, what you enjoyed doing, and focus on the positive things that happened in you and because of you. It’s always good to look back to see what went wrong, but dwelling on a painful past will prevent you from facing a new future with confidence and strength.

         In the closing days of this year you’re in a unique situation to not only look back at how you’ve been blessed and forward to where you’re going, but to choose the attitude with which you’ll face the New Year. Let’s admit that life isn’t a success-only journey, but it becomes a success if we choose to look at the challenges, not as barriers, but as events from which we can learn. As we prepare to say farewell to 2022 and all it brought, I'm looking forward to new opportunities in 2023. I think it's going to be a great year! What about you?

Pastor Dale (PD) and Pamela his wife are honored to serve the Mt. Laurel Church of God. If this Mid-Week Encouragement has helped you, perhaps it may encourage someone else. Feel free to share this email with anyone you choose. And if for some reason you'd like to stop receiving PD's Mid-Week Encouragement, just send me an email (kingdomguy@gmail.com) and I'll accommodate your request.