This is the start of a brand new year, new dreams, new goals and inevitably new problems.  Facing a new year is as exciting as it is daunting.  However, with every new thing that this year promises we can trust that we have the same God. He was, is, and will always be faithful. He cannot be anything else.

So often we become intimidated by the things that lie ahead. Perhaps it is a new position at work, or maybe you are welcoming a new child into the world and trying to figure out how to successfully parent that child, maybe you have lofty saving goals and are simultaneously trying to pay off debt. In whatever it is that you are trying to accomplish know that God wants to help you.

Seek God in Prayer for what you need. 1 Peter 3:12 says “The eyes of the lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayers.” God never leaves us and he never stops waiting patiently for us to come and talk with him about our life.

Know that God is with you. Deuteronomy 31:8 says “The lord himself goes before and will be with you…” Although 2016 is just beginning God is already there. There is nothing you can come up against, no insurmountable obstacle that you cannot not meet and take on with God’s help

The lord is your keeper. Psalm 54:4 says “Surely God is my help, the lord who sustains me. “When you desire to give up because it feels hard and your goal seems unreachable; or you feel that there is no point in continuing remember, that God is your help.

God is for you. Romans 8:31 says “What shall we say to these things. If God is for us, who can be against us.” In whatever happens, you will come out victorious because God has your back.  God cannot fail and as a long as you are on the side of God you cannot lose because he sits on the throne.

This year will have its own set of challenges but you can face them with confidence because you have all you need in God. For for every problem there is an opportunity for growth and in every troubling circumstance there is a place for God to reveal more of himself to you. When you come up against things you didn’t expect don’t shrink back, you have a God who is bigger than everything and everyone that is behind you. He is your help!

As this year comes to an end it is always good to reflect on what went well and what needs improvement. Typically this is when we begin to make goals and or resolutions about the upcoming year. I know many times we are hesitant to even make New Years resolutions because so often we fail to keep them. However, this year I wanted to do something slightly different to insure that I experienced at least some measure of success no matter how small.

As I begin to think about what I wanted to accomplish in 2016 it occurred to me that in order to be successful I must align myself with God. The reason for that is simple: God cannot fail.  If I commit myself to doing and being in God’s will then I can’t go wrong.

In past years I have created resolutions in my flesh never stopping to see what God/the Holy Spirit would have me do in the upcoming year. This year I encourage you not to just set goals but God goals. Ask God what he would have you do and be in this next year and frame your goals around that. This is what I suggest:

1.   Spend time with God. Ask him to reveal his plans for your life and acknowledge that you need his guidance. Ask him to show you areas of your life that need work.  Ask him to show you yourself. Those may be areas of concern that you want to center your goals around.

2.  Prioritize your goals. Your relationship with God should be at the top of your list of because as that grows everything else will fall into place.

3.  Make your goals God centered. Sometimes it is helpful for me to find scriptures in the bible that support what it is I am asking God to help me do. For example, if buying a house is a goal for me, I would list Proverbs 31:16 in support of that. “A woman considers a field and she buys it.”

4.  Be intentional about accomplishing your God centered goals. If you do not you may not experience the level of success or growth that you desire. Goals are not met by accident you have to be committed to doing the work

 5. Leave room for God to come in and change things around. Be Flexible. Your plan is usually not God’s but his is always best.

Trust that God knows the desires of your heart and all that you want to accomplish. Ask him to help you this year and make him a part of it. At the end of 2016 you will be glad you did. Watch God exceed your every expectation!

 Have your heart’s desires become your idols? Do you ever want something so bad that it consumes you? If the answer to either of these questions is “yes” then it may be time for a heart check.  It is so easy to get caught up envisioning what life will be like when we get that ideal job, when we get married or when we get that perfect body; but we have to be careful because things almost never happen exactly how we think they should. My pastor always says “You are not disappointed by what you find but by what you expect to find” When we attach our human expectations to God’s plan it almost never goes accordingly.

I think there is a common misconception that an idol can only be a false God.  An idol is anything that takes God’s number one place in your heart and life. When it becomes all you think about, pray about, or talk about it is an idol. You give it all your energy and time and you become consumed.  I noticed awhile back that for me that idol was marriage. I had in my mind what I thought my future husband would be like. My “Ideal” husband turned into my “idol” husband.  I had ideas about what type of activities we would do together, what kind of man he would be… The reality is I don’t know who he is or what things he will or won’t like.  Unmet expectations always lead to disappointment and I opened the door. I couldn’t see it then, but God showed me that I had created an Idol in my heart. I wanted marriage more than I wanted him.

 I think we have often been taught that God is a jealous and he wants no other God’s (or idols) before him. However, what if a part of the reason that God told us not to have idols is for our own protection? Only God knows that if I continue to idolize marriage then when I actually get married I may be disappointed in what I find my reality to be. Only God could know that when you get that job that you have worked for tirelessly all your life, you won’t find the fulfillment that you were seeking. Only God knows that when you spend hours in the gym trying to get to your goal weight you won’t be satisfied because the real issue is internal and not external.  I believe that God commanded us not to have idols for our benefit, not his. He knows that the ideal that we have in our head is nothing compared to what he has planned. The path he is leading us on may be different from the one we would have chosen but it is always better. Perhaps God told us not to create idols because he didn’t want us to be brokenhearted when that idol that we set up in our minds was unable to meet the need and standard the God created.  A person, place or thing will never be able to give you the joy and satisfaction that God can. He is your creator and is the best and only one who knows how to meet your need perfectly.

Allow God to shape your thinking for whatever your heart desires. When you remain open and allow God to give you what he knows is best you will never be disappointed. God wants to give you the desires of your heart but not if that means you neglect him in the process.  Matthew 6:33 states, “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you.”