Our New Chapter

My response is to recognize God’s greatness and grace in using me as an instrument and with confidence move into this pure, unspotted new chapter.

When you were dead in your sins... God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins... which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the [evil] powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross (Colossians 2:13-14).

Ah, the new year. It is laid out before me — clean and inviting. How do I begin this new chapter with the intention of letting God write through me?

First, I recognize the tools at my disposal. I begin with the confidence of knowing that the God of the universe is with me each moment. God created me a unique individual made in God’s image and will use me to the extent I make myself available. I thus spend time with God in a manner that allows God to set the agenda. This happens in two ways:

• On a daily basis, I spend time in contemplative prayer. Routines vary, but my typical daily routine is a short reading of scripture or a spiritually-focused work, centering prayer, and Anglican prayer beads. These practices keep me centered on God and kingdom living as I enter into my day.
  
  • I do what I like to call, deep listening. For deep listening, I do an eight-day silent retreat each spring. This is when God digs deep and surfaces the issues with which I need to deal. It is like a wire-brush scrubbing—painful yet cleansing. God is always gentle with me as I face these demons while wrapped in God’s loving embrace

My second focus as I begin the chapter is to recognize what I am up against. Evil exists in this world. That evil works to keep my focus off of being available for the kingdom. N.T. Wright shares that there are three unhealthy ways that Christians address evil:

1. Ignore It:
   We close our eyes to these forces of evil. Unfortunately, we can be blindsided as we go about life and “bad” things happen. In reaction to this evil and its influence, we can shut ourselves off from God due to disappointment that our prayers are not answered.
   
   • Magnify It:
     We can go to the opposite extreme of ignoring evil and magnify its power in the world. We then see the forces of evil around every corner, and our focus becomes consumed with our constant battle with evil and its force. We come to believe that responsibility to defeat evil in our lives and our worlds rests in us alone.
   • View Ourselves Above It: We can view ourselves as living above the power of evil — a pharisaical perspective. We can then look down on others who contribute to the suffering in the world with a blind eye to our own capacity for evil.

Each of these ways of looking at evil distracts us from the opportunity of being fully available for God’s use.[1]

A better lens is to have a healthy dose of realism of evil along with a recognition that the victory is already won! I recognize the evil within me as I can so easily mistreat others in small and large ways. With this awareness, I acknowledge the evil in the world with humility and dependence on God.

My response, therefore, is to recognize God’s greatness and grace in using me as an instrument and with confidence move into this pure, unspotted new chapter. I dedicate myself — every part of myself — for use in the work that God is accomplishing today and every day. I acknowledge that I am accepting a way of life that involves suffering as that was the life of my Lord. And, with gratitude, I recognize that I enter into the grace of a chapter of peace and love that is beyond my understanding.

Grace and peace in this New Year as we seek for God to work in us and to use us to bring his grace and his power to defeat evil in our own lives and these lives of those we touch!

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God — this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is — his good, pleasing and perfect will (Romans 12:1-2).

[1] Wright, N.T. (2014). The Lord and His Prayer. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans.About the author: Dr. Jackie Halstead is director of Selah: Center for Spiritual Formation. Jackie is Associate Professor of Spiritual Formation at Abilene Christian University.

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