Looking Ahead

by Kirk M. Wellum @http://redeemingthetime.blogspot.com

Christmas is over and boxing day (at least in Canada and other assorted British colonies) is here. As I write this the sky is gray and there is a misty fog hanging in the air though the temperature is below freezing. While many are chomping at the bit waiting for the stores to open so they can indulge themselves in the annual post-Christmas orgy of consumer spending I prefer to spent my time in other ways.

Uppermost on my mind this morning is the end of another year and the beginning of a new one in less than a week. Time rolls on as unstoppable as the ocean and I cannot help but wonder what lies ahead. The future is unknown to the most seasoned prognosticator, for which I am thankful, but still I wonder. Will this year be more of the same? What advances will be made for the gospel? What can be done this year to move beyond talk and prayers and tired terminology to action?

Maybe, I confess, I am in the grip of the cynicism that comes with time spent in this world but it seems to me that generally speaking people are disappointing and there are few that genuinely seek the interests of others. There is no shortage of pious verbiage but beyond that it is business as usual. I know that I must always keep my eyes on the Lord and not on other humans who like myself disappoint time and time again. But still, it would be wonderful to see something done beyond the maintenance of the status quo which is so incredibly boring.

The answer I suspect is found in doing what I think the Lord wants me do and not depending on or waiting for anyone else to come along with me. That after all is what leadership is all about: seeing what needs to be done and then doing it even if no one else gets it at the time and even if they never understand what I am thinking or feeling. Leadership is creative and is not just aping someone else's vision.

So here in the last week of the year I am wondering whether I have the faith and the courage to cut a new path, to think outside the box, to find and fulfill God's will for my life. Time will tell. But whatever happens it is my prayer that God's name would be honored as holy, that his kingdom come in power and that his will be done on earth as it is in heaven. I pray that the Lord of the church will show us all what happens when he bares his arm and works as only he can do. I suppose that this is what we all need more than anything else -- we need God to draw near.