Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit, Psalm 51:12

Hind sight is 20/20. We can all look back in our past and see the mistakes we’ve made. There’s nothing we can do to change those mistakes, we have to move forward. Remember when you were a kid and starting over was as simple as saying, “Do over!” Wouldn’t it be great to go back and do some things we’ve done in our lives over again without the mistakes we made the first time around? I’ve heard people say, “I’d love to be young again.” My response is always, “only if I can take my current knowledge and wisdom back with me.“ There’s no way I would want to go back and have to re-learn the lessons I’ve learned the hard way throughout my life

We’re heading into a new year, and most of us are thinking back over the past year and things we would change, and thinking ahead about trying to do something different. A couple of years ago, I took a look at my life and saw things that I wasn’t pleased with, and I was sure the Lord wasn’t pleased with. I realized that, even as a saved person, I was not living a life ‘in the center of God’s will.’ I began to pray to feel that joy of my salvation again. I wanted to be happy and full of joy just as I had been in the days after I was saved. I started by deciding that I wouldn’t miss any more church services. That was a great thought, however, having my body inside the church service wasn’t what I needed. I needed to reconnect, surrender myself to God’s will for my life. my salvation wasn’t in question, but I definitely hadn’t been putting Him first in my life. I was trying, very unsuccessfully, to walk the fence of life, both in the world, and in a relationship with Christ. It wasn’t until I completely surrendered to Him and put Him absolutely first in my life that the joy I was looking for returned.

What I got in that moment was so incredibly more than I wanted. I had no clue how much growth was available to me, no clue how good it is to be walking in His will. In the moment that I gave Him complete Lordship over every aspect of my life, He filled me with a level of joy and peace that completely restored the joy I had at the moment of my salvation and created a new desire to learn and embrace His Word.

I think sometimes, even as Christians, we can let life get the best of us, we can take our eyes of Christ, and begin to lean on ourselves instead of Him. When we do that, we invite the very problems that we’re seeking to avoid. When we stuggle to make sense of a world that is fallen, when we fight against the evils of the world with our own power, failure is the only outcome that we can expect. I love the first few verses of Hebrews 12:

1. Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, 2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

We’ve just been reminded in chapter 11 of some of the heroes of our faith, and how they looked to God, and followed Him faithfully, even in extraordinary circumstances and proved His faithfulness toward us. We are to be reminded that God is always there for us, always wanting the very best for us, even when we don’t understand what that is, and even when it doesn’t line up with what we want. God, in is perfect way, can see all of the other things He has for us in the future, if we just allow Him to lead us. We want to hang on to the things we want for ourselves, but, if we trust Him and allow Him to lead, He wants things for us that we can’t even imagine, but first we have to let Him have full control.

After I got back into a right relationship with Him, I allowed Him to lead me in every area of my life, my work life, my home life, my church life. What I’ve found is that life hasn’t become perfect… work is still hard sometimes, home is still hard sometimes, but wow, my heart has a level of peace in those hard times that I had forgotten when I was trying to fix it all myself. I talk to the Lord all day. Sure I have what I would refer to as traditional prayer times, times when I go to my knees and spend time talking to the Lord, but I also stop when I’m troubled, happy, or just because I realize that He is indeed working in my life and whisper a prayer.

Today is the first day of a new year. Resolve to put our Lord first in your life, let Him in to every area, be willing to accept the changes that He wants to make in your life, and see just how much He loves you. I can promise that He will never let you down.