By Victor Salamba
No one can predict a year with absolute accuracy, we plan many things but sometimes, life just has a way of happening. We win some, we lose some. We have moments of great hope and moments of great despair – all these are part of our journey. We are blessed to be alive this year, you might have gotten here kicking and screaming, or even on your knees – but you are still here! As I love to say, your existence is proof that you are still necessary in the plans of God. He will give us above and beyond what we have thought or imagined, but they are some things we must remember as we expect him to touch our lives.
Remember the devil fights our memory, he likes when we forget. When we forget, we breed doubt and doubt breeds fear, worry and anxiety – all these are enemies of faith and in Hebrews 6, it says WITHOUT FAITH, IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO PLEASE GOD.
I share below a few things we should remember in 2018 that I trust will keep us afloat.
1. God is a Teacher: Hebrews 12:6-8 ‘’ those that are my children I will train.’’ The word used for train in the Greek here is paedia, meaning the complete training of a person. God wants to teach you daily and indeed, you should learn daily. His method of teaching may sometimes involve disappointment, frustration or even hurt, but we must remember that he teaches those he loves. How much have you learnt from the Lord in the past year?
2. God Knows You: Jeremiah 1:5 ‘’before I formed you… I knew you’ God knows you better than you know yourself. He understands your capacity and potential. Only the maker of a product understands its capability. Never get tired of asking your manufacturer about you and about your existence.
Remember, you were built everything you may go through or have gone through. You were built for that dream you have, for that venture you feel is a challenge, for that leap you may be afraid to take – everything in your life, you were built to take on!
3. God Will Never Leave You: Hebrews: 13:5 “I will never leave you nor forsake you.’’ The one thing that God will never do is go against his own word. When he says he will never leave you, it literally means He will never leave you. The evidence of His faithful presence is that you are still here.
4. God Does Not Keep a Record of Your Sins: Hebrews 8:12 “I will forgive your wickedness and your sins I will remember no more’’. He is an eternal God choosing not to remember your mistakes eternally. God does not keep a record of your sins nor of your wrong doing. What he has forgiven, He has forgotten. Stop judging yourself harshly.
5. God is Not Surprised: Isaiah 46:10, ‘’I am the Lord who declares the future before it happens.’’ What you call future to God is history, nothing catches God by surprise he is aware of everything in your life.
6. God Equips You For Battle: Psalms 144:1 ‘’he trains my hands for battle…’’ A time comes when we must battle, for our future, for our marriage, for our children, for our health, that season is inevitable in our lives. The Lord will train you to fight the battles that come in your life he trains you to be a conqueror.
7. God is Good All The Time: Psalms 119:68 ‘’Lord you are good and you do that which is good’’ there is no time that God stops being. If there is one thing that no one should ever forget in their lives is that God is good. In fact, we should daily confess “God is good to me!”
8. God Wants You To Rest: Isaiah 28:12 ‘’this is the resting place, let the weary Rest.’’ Resting is not bad, taking a breather every now and then is not a sin. God approves of your resting. Refresh, take a holiday, take time out to appreciate the life that God has blessed you with. Avoid burning out.
