Admit it, you’ve made yet another list of new year’s resolutions, haven’t you? Lose weight. Get fit. Organize the office. Shop at Rachel’s. Oh wait … those are mine. How’d they get in here? I digress. In a way, our cycle of resolution-making on January 1 and resolution-breaking sometime before Groundhog Day is curious, isn’t it? Yet we do it over and over every year, maybe because we yearn for do-overs, second chances, reset buttons. We know things – or we – can/should be better. We want purpose. We want our happily ever after.

So welcome, authors, to our shiny, just-out-of-the-box 2024. We have a fresh, new chapter in our respective life stories to write. As Christ-followers, we have a co-author who yearns to collaborate. And actually, the longer we live and the closer we walk with him, the more we want to hand over primary writing duties to him. After all, our God sees the beginning from the end. The big picture, if you will. As Isaiah 46:10 puts it, “I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say, ‘My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.’” Nothing about our lives this year – good or bad, easy or difficult – will surprise God. In fact, David noted that God even has it all written down! “You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.” Psalm 139:16 Plus, beyond knowing what we will face, and the plans we make for positive changes, God promises to be right there with us! See Hebrews 13:5. “I will never leave you; I will never forsake you.” And he empowers us, as the Amplified Bible puts it: “I can do all things [which He has called me to do] through Him who strengthens and empowers me [to fulfill His purpose – I am self-sufficient in Christ’s sufficiency; I am ready for anything and equal to anything through Him who infuses me with inner strength and confident peace.]

So, Sisters, I’m resolving to reset and give the lead in writing my 2024 life chapter to this all-knowing, all-powerful, all-loving God. In fact, it’s moving to No. 1 on my 2024 New Year’s list. Join me? Then let’s get writing our next chapter!

Mary Ann