This is the week every year when many people look back over the last 12 months, do a little soul searching, then begin to plan for the up and coming new year. As a Christian, God must obviously be in the center (and start) of this process, although He is often added in at the end of the process rather than at the beginning, then blamed when our plans don’t work.
When 2011 opened, I taught a series at VALLEY Christian Church called “Destinations”. In the series, we discovered “The Principle of the Path”. Here are a few things we learned about the paths we would choose in 2011:
Divine direction begins with unconditional submission to God. Not information.
Failure to trust or to submit to God can lead you to unintended and undesirable destination.
Never evaluate a relationship based on where it is. Always evaluate where it is moving.
The faster you go, the farther ahead you must look.
You will always end up where the path you are on takes you.
Every path has a predetermined destination.
There’s always something on the wrong path that offers an immediate fix or thrill.
Direction, not desire, determines your destination.
So, where are you at the end of another year? Rest assured, you are exactly where the path you’ve been walking on has led you. What are you going to do in 2012, to insure you end up in a different place?
If you haven’t read Andy Stanley’s book, “The Principle of the Path”, I highly recommend you do before making plans/goals for 2012. The Biblical wisdom gained from this book, will help you avoid many regrets in the coming year!
Greg Williamson 