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Thursday, March 28, 2024

This is Your Year!

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“Behold, I will do a new thing, now it shall spring forth; shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.” 

— Isaiah 43:19

I want to begin this article with a bold proclamation: 2018 is YOUR year, and it’s going to be your best year ever! It is critically important for you to internalize the reality that God has tremendous favor over your life. Everything you touch is blessed. Everywhere your feet trod belongs to you. Every plan, every vision, every dream that God has given to you is coming to pass. You have to believe that the wait is over. The drought has ended. The delay is no more. The holdup has ceased. This is YOUR year!

In Isaiah 43:19, Israel finds herself in Babylonian captivity because of their disobedience to God. The Lord again reminds them through the Prophet that this will not be the first time He has humiliated a great nation on their behalf. The Book of Exodus tells a parallel story of how God did the same when He drowned the powerful forces of the Egyptian army at the Red Sea. The people therefore are encouraged not to lose hope.

How many times have we found ourselves in captivity due to our own disobedience? Captivity can take many forms and does not always have to be physical. Financial, emotional, health, family and relationship challenges can all be a form of captivity. They can rob us of our reason to rejoice, paralyze our peace, hinder our hope and hijack our joy. But there is good news! Isaiah gives us a three-pronged antidote for boosting our excitement as we enter and fully embrace 2018 as our year.

First and foremost, we must forget the failures of the past. Everyone fails at one time or another in our life. Most of us fail multiple times before finally finding our true purpose and path. These failures can be disappointing and debilitating. If we are not careful, we will find ourselves focusing solely on our past failures instead of letting go and letting the past truly be the past. Isaiah reminds us that God is doing “a new thing.” This means God is doing something fresh and exciting in our lives. In God’s eyes, the old has truly passed away, and we are admonished to “behold” the new.

Secondly, we must witness for God in the present. The prophet asks: “Do you not see it?” “See what?” one might ask. See God moving miraculously on our behalf. As the newness of life unfolds for us in 2018, we must tell anyone who will listen just how good God is! Don’t keep the good news to yourself. Someone needs a word of encouragement from you because when they see how God moves in your life in 2018, they will want to understand what is happening and why. They will want the same favor and blessings to flow toward them.

Finally, in 2018 we must claim God’s promises for the future. God promises to “make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.” God will do more than just deliver us from the hand of our enemies; God will carve a path for us through our wilderness experience and provide provision for our needs and comfort along the way. This is God’s promise, and it’s one we can stand on.

In closing, 2018 is your year. Make this your daily mantra. Recite it first thing in the morning. Repeat it throughout the day and in the evening before you go to sleep. Personalize by boldly proclaiming, “This is MY year!” Behold, God is doing a “new thing.” Do you not see it?

Dr. Preston T. Adams III is senior pastor at Amazing Grace Christian Church in Indianapolis. Contact Pastor Adams via email at seniorpastor@agccindy.org or via Twitter @DrPrestonTAdams. For more information, visit agccindy.org.

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