December 27, 2010

Perspective for the New Year
by Pastor George Van Alstine

At the beginning of a new year, many of us stop to think about our life — What was 2010 like? What can we expect in 2011? We may find ourselves looking even further backward, reviewing the course of our life so far, and forward to the years ahead, maybe even into eternity. It's like being on a long hike through the woods and checking mid-course where you are. In order to figure out your location, you need to be standing on elevated ground. Otherwise you'll see nothing but trees.

There is a passage in the Bible that talks about the best high place to stand when we're judging the course of our life:

Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. (Romans 5:1-2)

From the high ground of this grace in which we stand, we can look back and see how we got here: “justified by faith through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Then we can look forward and see where we're going: “we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God.”

This view from the high ground of God's grace gives us the perspective we need to enter into the woods for the next phase of our life. There are sure to be troubles and trials, patches of darkness and confusion, times of insecurity and doubt. But because we know where we've been and where we're going, we are able even to
. . . boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us. (verses 3-5)
This assurance of victory through struggles can only be seen from the vantage point of this grace in which we stand.

Other vantage points may tell a different story. Economically, 2010 may have been bad for you, and 2011 may look no better. Health issues that you faced in 2010 are likely to be worse in 2011. And you're another year older, probably on the downhill side of life. If you do your New Year’s review from any of these perspectives, you're probably going to be discouraged.

Only this grace in which we stand can give you the long view of what God is doing in you, the spiritual development he is bringing about in your inner being, the shaping of a person equipped for an eternal destiny. As you begin 2011, make sure you do stand in his grace by making your personal peace with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ. That's the most important New Year’s resolution you can make. You'll find that, from the vantage point of grace, this resolution will really be a life-changing revolution.