I love early January. I usually pull out a fresh notebook, set audacious goals, and dream about what lies ahead for the year. The sadness I feel in taking down our Christmas decorations is quickly replaced by the aroma of new opportunity. My plans are laid, my energies are heightened, and my optimism for the year ahead is strong. The words of C.T. Studd stir me up to live a life that counts, “Only one life, ’twill soon be past, only what’s done for Christ will last.” I don’t know about you, but I want to expend all of my energies for the glory of Jesus Christ. I am fired up! And yet…I am still tired. Even as I write this, my eyelids are heavy and they blink slowly as I longingly look down at my empty coffee cup wishing there were just a few more sips left.
We can have all the New Year zeal in the world, holding our ambitious resolutions in one hand and a large cup of coffee in the other, but we still have to face the fact that eventually today, we will have to get off our feet, lie down, close our eyes, and sleep. For us mere mortals, sleep is inevitable. It’s recommended that the average adult gets at least seven hours of sleep per night. Quick math tells me that we will sleep about 1/3 of our life on earth. You can be “that person” who argues for how they don’t need as much sleep as most people, but at the end of the day your body still requires it (and you’re probably shedding years off of your life only sleeping 4 or 5 hours a night). Not so with God. He never sleeps.
Psalm 121 is a “Psalm of Ascent.” God’s people would sing these psalms as they made their journey to Jerusalem for annual feasts, and they are great psalms for us to sing and pray as we make our pilgrimage journey through life as Christ’s disciples.
I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. (Psalm 121:1-4).
Where will you look for help this year? Starbucks for caffeination? Your calendar for organization? Or will you embrace your limitations by looking to Jesus?
Our ambitions may be good and godly, but we must hold them in tension with our limitations and stay dependent upon Jesus. Abide in him. Listen to and obey the Word of Christ, “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5).
The year is new, our days are numbered, and our energy is limited. Our God is immovable, eternal, and all powerful. Let’s make this year count for the glory of God and the mission we have to make disciples, but let’s not be so foolish as to operate out of our own strength. Our help comes from the Lord.