At the beginning of 2019, I decided to walk through the year with
the word deliberate. I had successes and failures throughout the
year, but the goal was to walk out the year deliberately walking out the good
works God has so mercifully prepared for me as Ephesians
2:10 says,
For we are his workmanship, created in
Christ Jesus for good
works, which
God prepared beforehand, that
we should
walk
in them.
And God is so good. The
failures are not for nothing. The hurts are not for nothing. The good, the bad,
it’s all for His glory. It’s for our good. It’s all filtered through His great
love for His people.
I was driving a few days ago and thinking about this
year, about how I walked out the year with deliberate.
I was thinking about how I didn’t really think about the word a lot during the
year. I just wanted to live the life God has for me and to live it for His
glory. I fail daily, but I know that I must keeping walking forward in faith,
knowing one day He will make all things right, knowing He is still working in
me. I thought about past years and the words I have chosen and how this is not
about me; it’s always about learning more about God, more about His great mercy, his faithfulness, etc. And this year was no different. It hit me: God
is always deliberate. Through sermons
from Judges, Ruth, and a series on evil and suffering, the truth is there that
God is deliberate. He is sovereign
over all of His creation. His purposes
are good. It can be an incredibly hard truth to wrestle with, but in it is
found great peace. It was His deliberate
plan and by His foreknowledge that Jesus Christ was handed over to be crucified
(Acts 2:23). It is for great good that Christ came into this world to save
sinners. It is for great good that through suffering and evil, we see God’s
great goodness, mercy, and grace.
2019 was a good year. God is growing our family in
knowledge of Him in our new home. I look forward to what God has planned for
2020. May we walk it out for His glory.
