New Year, New…?
Kyle Stutzman
So here we are, we’ve got a new year. 2022! The start of a new year usually brings excitement and anticipation, but it seems like after the last 2 years, we seemingly limped to the finish. After the gut punch of 2020, and then the kick in the shins of 2021, we’re just hoping there’s nothing coming at us this year. It’s already difficult to keep up on resolutions, and with everything that's happened, it’s near impossible to think in a hopeful direction. New year, new you? New year, new goals? Some of us are just trying to keep our heads above water!
I’ve personally never been a big fan of new year resolutions. It feels like I’m making a false promise to myself, and personally there were many things in 2021 that were mentally and emotionally exhausting. So when I think about 2022, I’m really excited for these 21 Days of Transforming Prayer. When I think about what my goals for the year are, or what I’m hoping for, I find myself powerless to do what I want to do. I’m realizing more and more my desperate need for Jesus. I’m realizing the greatness of His grace and mercy. I’m realizing that I’m not the fixer and master of my life, He is. I’m not the one who can make this the “best year ever” or improve the parts of me I want improved. I need the miracle working power of the Holy Spirit in my life. I need the blood of Jesus, and to be washed anew each and every day in His love. While we pursue these 21 days of prayer, to get closer to Jesus, and to figure out how we might live out the Gospel, remember that the Gospel is good news for you! The work and power and majesty of Jesus covers you!
That is my hope and my lifeline for 2022. Nothing of me. Nothing of my goals. Everything of Jesus. I’ll leave you with this verse that I’m holding tightly onto, and I encourage you to dive into these 21 days deeply. Dive hard and drink from the well that is the love of Jesus.
“I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!”
Galatians 2:20-21 (emphasis added by me)