Anna Radosh, on the other hand, is not a fan of New Year’s resolutions.?In this week’s blog post, Anna discusses long lasting changes mean much more than New Year’s resolutions…
I really dislike New Year?s resolutions. Do we really need to wait till the beginning?of each?year to make them and how long will they actually last?
I believe that we can make changes at any time. These changes can last longer than the ones that we make as part of New Year?s Resolution.
The issue is?not about when we make our resolutions but will the outcomes of our resolutions provide us with the fulfilment that we are looking for?
This brings?me to the story of Haman.
In the Bible, we find Haman in the book of Esther. Having become a favourite of the King, he still resents one person vehemently and cannot understand why this man is still in the King’s court. That man?is Mordecai. He is a Jew and worse still, Mordecai is the only person who refuses to bow down before Haman. Even after he was was exclusively invited to?a party with the King and Queen, he still complained to his wife and friends:??I have many sons, the splendour of my wealth gives me power and lavish life, nevertheless all this gives me no satisfaction as long as this Jew Mordecai lives.? (See Esther 5)
Nothing gave him satisfaction?
Haman had many good things happening in his life and yet, he couldn?t enjoy them because this one problem was overshadowing everything else.
It is easy to have ?Haman syndrome? — (lets give it a name, shall we?).
How many times despite the abundant blessings in our lives do we find ourselves unable to truly appreciate them because there is ONE THING missing. ?That?s when?we start to put ?if only? in our lives.
If only I had this job…
If only I had this car…
If only I had a partner…
If only I had a child
If only I was accepted in?that?school
If only?
There is so much hope and power in those statements because we believe that when they happen, we will finally be satisfied.
However, we forget that many of the ?if only?-s have already come?true in our lives, and we are looking for the next thing to fill that satisfaction gap.
According to Bob Goff in his book ‘Love Does’: ?God sometimes allows us to find ourselves in a place when we want something so bad that we can?t see past it. Sometimes we can?t even see God because of it. When we want something that bad, it?s easy to mistake what we truly need for the things we really want.?
All the things that we pursue in ?the hope that they will make us happy will amount to nothing when there is no God present. I have come to the conclusion that the only resolution in our lives should be to truly Love God.
So, friends, my wish for this year is to love Jesus: to fall in love with Him like we never did before. To be able to leave our desires at His feet and let Jesus fill our hearts with love. To have the satisfaction that only He can give and to be?fulfilled because He is our God.
“I will give thanks to you, Lord, with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonderful deeds.” (Psalm 9:1 NIV)
