2024: One More Thought on the New Year

Quitting is not an option in 2024! How’s that for a New Year’s Resolution? ‘I don’t quit when I’m tired; I quit when I’m done,’ as they say. It’s similar to the American maxim, ‘It ain’t over until I win.’ This is not to support the illusion of those who deny the reality of failure, but rather it encourages that you’re not defeated until you give up—and you shouldn’t give up! Failure is part of life, but how you bounce back is a choice in life. Choose wisely. If you make a mistake, repent, learn and do better; if others make mistakes, forgive, learn and do better. You can discover that you’re stronger than you think.

Not quitting when tired, but pushing through until you reach your goal, is a tough one to master. We all have our limits and it’s reasonable to accept the realities of our strength. But why not discover new powers or find different ways to carry the burden you carry? After all, ‘it’s not the burden, but the way you carry it,’ remember? Carry a 50 kg bag of wheat is no small burden to carry, but if you apply the right technique, it’s possible. Learn afresh to carry your burden in life the right way. Don’t ‘break your back’ over what life has brought your way. Reflect on how you can handle things better. May reflection lead to renewal!

As we already proposed, firstly, have a vision for the future and, secondly, deal appropriately with your past. These two elements will improve your life. Reflect wisely on your past, it shouldn’t weigh you down, but it should rather be a blessing in terms of what you can learn to make life better. And, thirdly, find ways to gain new strength for what you are facing. Let’s consider the following.

Finding Strength for the Future

Finding the strength to manage and master all the challenges we are in and the difficulties ahead is important. The limits of our strength are manifest when life gets tough.

Facing a ‘day of distress’ with limited strength is tough, if not unbearable. We must be prepared for what is ahead. It’s not the strength of the opponent that matters foremost, but your own when facing him. It’s not the challenge of the task you should carry out or the problem you must solve, but rather the skill and competence you need to get it done. And, the ways you can add strength and expertise to the quest of solving problems and dealing with challenges. Another translation puts this wise saying as follows:

Falling apart when we should keep it together is bad. It makes a bad situation worse. Therefore, one of the main things we must learn as we face a new year is this: how to keep things together when everything is falling apart. How to continue to do the right thing even if everyone around you is doing the wrong thing. True, sometimes life might feel like an avalanche you’re trying to stop, and it seeks to burry you, too. But even when that happens, find a way out. Don’t allow the circumstances of life to dictate your life and future. Don’t allow the bad things in life to give you a ‘premature burial.’ It’s not time to ‘Rest in Peace’ (R.I.P.), but rather to ‘Restore in Power’! Seek the strength needed to not just survive but to thrive, not just to manage but to master, not just to avoid going under but to overcome! The promise of God stands: we shall overcome!

The NIV puts it this way: ‘…in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us’ (cf., NKJV). The NET expresses the original Greek as ‘complete victory,’ and ‘prevail completely,’ and ‘winning a most glorious victory.’

Paul, who wrote these words from experience, didn’t exactly have a ‘walk in the park’ while serving God. The ‘all these things’ he wrote about were tribulations, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril and sword (v 35). He knew that nothing could separate him from the love of God in Christ (vv 35, 38–39) and that was his confidence:

This verse echoes the confidence of the psalmists of old who faced their own persecution, rejection and slander:

Or:

David knew His Shepherd, who would be with him even in the valley of the shadow of death (Psalm 23). The reason he didn’t fear is because God was with him! Paul, too, knew that the God whom he served would never leave him or forsake him, a promise God made to Joshua and the writer of Hebrews reiterated to the believers who serve God with purity (Hebrews 13:5–6). The task ahead of Joshua was scary: facing giants and powerful enemies. The task ahead of the first-century believers were scary, too: facing persecution and powerful opponents. Whatever was ahead of them, God would empower them. David’s proclamation of becoming fearless is based on who God was to him: light, salvation and defence/strength. God’s light, salvation and strength to protect would expel all fear! His presence with us is sufficient.

Paul knew that too. He had faithful companions, but there was also a time when all forsook him—yet the Lord was with him (2 Timothy 4:16–18). God was his light, salvation and strength. Paul knew that if God is all you have, you have all you need. Like Paul and David and others, live with God as your source. He has not given us a spirit of fear or timidity, but of power, love and self-control (2 Timothy 1:7). Just reflect on that verse for a moment. Fear and intimidation vanish in the face of what God provides through His Spirit: power, love and self-control. These three aspects are powerful. Power without love makes people arrogant and they fail; love without power can become weak and flimsy. And without self-control, both power and love are in danger of being misused. Add all three dimensions into your life as you approach everything you are involved in. Self-control will help you use power and love properly.

Martin Luther King Jr. was a man who had these dimensions in his life and service to humanity. The great Civil Rights leader of the 1960s often faced challenges and controversies, but he also found a way to gain new strength for the things ahead. He was right when he wrote of the true measure of a man:

His strength was in his God who gave him strength and wisdom to master the challenges in his life time—and great was his impact and powerful is his legacy.

‘Sharpen Your Axe’

The ancient Hebrew wisdom taught us that whatever our hand finds to do, we should do it with all our strength (Ecclesiastes 9:10a). Do what you do wholeheartedly; give it everything you’ve got. People are more successful and content if they love what they do. Do what you do well. But applying strength also requires wisdom, for ‘wisdom is better than strength’ (v 16) as it finds the right way to apply the strength we have for the task ahead. The wise king also used a practical example to illustrate this point:

It seems only common sense to know this, but think of it in your life. If you don’t use your tools right, strength is lost unnecessarily. One is not only to work hard but also smart. Abraham Lincoln was said to have noted that if he had the task of chopping up a tree within several hours, he would first take enough time to sharpen his axe. He knew that it is wise to use your tools the right way, rather than adding additional strength and waste it. We can’t afford to waste strength. Wisdom gives us success because it instructs us to use what we have available to the best possible way. If you want success, you need both strength and wisdom. Even people without higher education have become successful by employing the smart people. One famous rapper recently said that he doesn’t have a Harvard degree, but all the people working for him (i.e., making money for him!) do.

The bottom line is this: use your resources well. Use your strength, your talents, your time and your network of people well. Don’t exploit people, or you’ll soon find yourself alone. Serve others and the good you do to them will come back to you. ‘Sharpen your axe’ simply means not to waste strength by using what you have in an insufficient way. A sharp axe will get the job done without wasting strength. Be wise.

Reflect on your past and learn how to do things better. Life is a journey, not a destination. Yes, we seek to arrive at a certain destination, but we must also enjoy the journey. Reflect on the past to learn, but live in the present to do something meaningful. Keep preparing for the future, by what the present is teaching you. It prepares you for what is ahead. If you don’t know something, learn it; if you can do something, improve further; if you have reached your capacity, grow more; if you lack resources, find a way to acquire them; and what you can do, be a blessing and benefit to others.

Let 2024 be a meaningful year. Use your 24 hours a day well; learn from the past but don’t get stuck there; and continue to build your future. Not everything will work out the way you wish, but one day you will look back and realise, you were stronger than you thought.