A brand new year is once again before us my friends. We have had many successes as well as challenges through the past year but thank God we are still here. Let us once again pause and give God thanks for His many blessings for the past year and for the blessings He will bestow upon us individually and collectively as a people this year.
Let us endeavour to move forward into this New Year with confidence in God and trust Him in all things. As we forge forward, let us remember that He has everything under control and that nothing whatsoever takes Him by surprise. With that in mind, we have absolutely nothing to fear. There is nothing that we will experience that He himself does not know about or has not experienced. Hence, whatever you are going through right now it is time to shake it off. Words that have been said or actions that have been done shake them off and step up. Let them go. Whatever they are: a rude comment, a past mistake. Do not carry any old baggage with you as you move forward into the year. Refuse to hang on to negative feelings, destructive mindsets, nasty attitudes and anything that will hinder you or hold you back from moving on.
Move forward with confidence knowing that it is God who determines the number of your days, but it is you who will have to determine how those days are spent. Each morning, rise and join with the Psalmist and declare: “This is the day the Lord has made; I will rejoice and be glad in it.” Look at yesterday as a cancelled cheque, tomorrow as a promissory note, and today as all you have got and live it to the fullest. When you get up everyday, delete from your mind yesterday and tomorrow. Yesterday is gone. It is over! It was for learning. Tomorrow will be a consequence of what you do today. Therefore, everyday face life with the conviction that today will never return, and it may be the last opportunity that you will have to contribute because there is no guarantee you will live to see tomorrow.
Be determined to spend each day purposefully, serving God and your fellow men. See every task as an opportunity to honour God and endeavour to leave His footprints on the hearts of all those you meet on a daily basis. Tackle each obstacle the day brings knowing that with God’s help you can overcome it. Use them as stepping stones and building blocks and not as barriers. Refuse to let the challenges in life cause you to become bitter. Do the same as Jesus once instructed His disciples – “Shake it off”.
Jesus knew that life would bring challenges, so He warned and prepared his disciples how to handle them. In Mark’s gospel, when Hesent his disciples out two by two and gave them authority over unclean spirits, He gave them instructions….”If any place will not welcome you and they refuse to hear you, as you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet…” In other words, He told them, don’t carry any baggage with you as you move on in life. Don’t hang on to those negative feelings or to that rejection. Let it go. Shake it off. Begin again. Don’t let a seeming failure stop you in your tracks. Continue the journey in trust and faith in God.
That instruction is quite fitting for the year. As you go through this year, condition your mind that there will be many obstacles and challenges. So when they come don’t be surprised – be prepared. You see, if you live long and attempt much, you will run up against failure or opposition. Refuse to get discouraged. There will probably be failed relationships, failures at work and failures in health, but take courage. God is in control. Turn them over to Him and let Him handle them. That’s his specialty.
Jesus experienced failure himself and expected his disciples to fail also. That’s why He prepared them for failure when told them, “If any place will not welcome you and they refuse to hear you, as you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them.” He made it clear that they will not be insulated from failure just because they were going in his name. In fact, Jesus knew that failure will be a real possibility, so he provided them with that instruction. He taught them how to respond in the face of it. We too can use it to empower ourselves to carry on when we come up against opposition and failure as we journey through life.
Sometimes our highest hopes are destroyed so that we can be prepared for better things. Think about it! As someone aptly said – the failure of the caterpillar is the birth of the butterfly. The passing of the bud is the blooming of the rose. The death of the seed is the prelude to its resurrection as wheat. Someone has said that plants grow best in the darkness of night just before dawn. Our failures can be the door to a new success. In the midst of challenges, let us take courage and do like David. Encourage ourselves in the Lord. Let us quit complaining and crying. Let us get up, shake it off and press on.
Many are waiting for a perfect time with a perfect people and we fail by waiting for a better season.No matter how painful the blows or distressing the situation let us do like the mule. Every time they pour dirt on you, just keep shaking it off, step up on it and climb higher until you can step triumphantly over it all. What seemed like it would bury him, actually blessed him, all because of the attitude and manner in which he handled his adversity. The cure is to accept what has happened, try to make sense out of it, learn from it, then shake it off and step up. When you let it go you feel free and you are no longer buried in the well. Once you are on your feet again you can take some action. You decide where you want to go in life – the direction you want your life to take. You decide whether you will allow the hurt to make you a bitter or a better person. Learn from it and emerge stronger.
If we face our problems and respond to them positively, and refuse to give in to panic, refuse bitterness, or refuse self-pity, then God can and will turn things around. The adversities that come along to bury us usually have within them the potential to benefit and bless us. Just study the lives of Job, David and Joseph and you will see that for yourselves.
Forgiveness, faith, prayer, praise and hope are powerful ways to help us shake it off and step up out of the wells in which we may find ourselves! So it is up to you to determine whether to let your challenges or obstacles be either Stepping Stones or Stumbling Blocks. Your attitude will determine that. It is wise to remember, during those difficult times, that it is the same heat that hardens an egg also melts butter. So what will you allow that heat to do to you when those times come? Will you shake it off and move on, or give up and quit? Do like the Apostle Paul. When the snake bit him, he shook it off and moved on.
You can either dwell on the past, or shake it off and move toward the future God has planned for you, or sit in self-pity and become bitter. Paul, a man with a past, wrote about ‘…Forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forward to those things which are ahead’ (Philippians 3:13 NKJV). Now, Paul didn’t forget his past. He just shook it off and kept going. You just might be saying, ‘But I’ve failed so badly.’ The Bible says, ‘… [He] will not remember your sins’ (Isaiah 43:25 NAS). The Bible also says to that woman: ‘Neither do I condemn thee, go and sin no more,’ and it is for you as well. Sometimes forgiveness requires a healing process, but until you make the decision to forgive yourself and others, and ‘shake it off’, the process can’t even begin. So the choice is ours my friends:either keep it inside, let it eat away at us and steal our joy, happiness and peace of mind or embrace the hurt and then shake it off and step up. You see, if we do not deal with it and let it go, the past hurt can create feelings of bitterness, resentment, anger and revenge and lead us down a destructive path. What will it be for you? I pray your answer will be the latter. As we journey through 2013 let our mantra be – SHAKE IT OFF! And move on!
May God’s richest blessings be yours for the year! Happy New Year to All!
About the Author: Mrs. Marilyn Hodge owns and operates the Wellness Centre in the Farrington, Anguilla. The Centre offers Counselling Services by
Appointment Only. Contact information: 476-3517 or email: marilynb@anguillanet.com. Referrals can also be made directly through the Atlantic Star Center of Medical Excellence, South Hill, Anguilla. By Appointment Only: Tel 497-0765.
