Apprehensive (okay downright fearful!) is how I felt about the year 2017 rolling in. I planned to contemplate all the possible angles of the changes it would bring. This particular new year would be like no other for me. I could sense it. Among other concerns, how much more would God require from me? Was I prepared?
On New Years Eve 2016 I fell asleep with the intention of waking up in enough time for a deep inner philosophical assessment of the coming year. Unfortunately, I woke up at 12:03 am - the NEXT YEAR!! How could this happen! It seemed like a fiendish plot to foil my plans. Now it was too late to strategize and contemplate and surmise and, and, and . . . All that was left to do was to take a deep breath and brace myself. After a deep cleansing breath, my short prayer - 'Okay, Lord. As long as You're with me, I can face whatever 2017 brings.
To my grateful surprise, God alleviated my fears after that prayer. Still, I was accustomed to wave after wave of unexpected troubles, but I soon began experiencing something virtually foreign - wave after wave of unexpected blessings!
Each day laced with promise leaves me wide-eyed with expectation, and you know what? Each time I obey God and exercise a little faith, He opens something up for me. Sometimes it's a new resource. Other times it's something hidden in plain sight.
When explaining the joy of this new phenomenon to my daughter, she responded in her always witty fashion. "Mom, when I look at your life, it seems each day you are opening a door of an advent calendar! Each door is different and has a special surprise!"
True to form, she chose a fitting metaphor for how my life has been so far in 2017. But I suspect that blessings have always been abounding. I was simply too focused on the problems in my face. The songwriter Johnson Oatman, Jr. penned,
"Count your blessings, name them one by one.
Count your blessings, see what God has done.
Count your many blessings. Name them one by one.
And it will surprise you what the Lord has done."
Thankfully, God is teaching me not to be anxious for tomorrow. I can be confident that He's acutely aware of what tomorrow holds. I can rest assured He also faithfully holds me. I am blessed.
Have you ever experienced a winning streak? Tell about it in the comment section below.