Monday, January 03, 2011

A Look Back At 2010

Yet again, God has blessed me to see another year.

When 2010 began, I had no idea what was going to come during the year. I didn't even know if I was going to live to see 2011. Not that I have some kind of terminal disease, nor do I live in a war-stricken country. But the fact of the matter is, we do not know when the Lord will call us home.

As I mentioned in my previous post, I can't help but marvel at how far God has brought me since January 2010. It is hard to imagine that I was that person in those photographs. It is even harder to imagine I was that person in the photographs from 2009 and 2008.

And for that I am so grateful.

At the same time, I can't help but realise how much further I have to go. There is so much more that needs to be done and made new in my spiritual life. But now that I have tasted the goodness of the Lord, that's all I really want. What I want this year is to grow closer to Christ. I want to grow in Christ so much that by the time 2012 swings around, I won't recognise myself again.

I want Jesus Christ to repair the broken relationships in my life. I want Him to further refine and polish me for His purpose. I want to lose all of me so that I can gain more of Him! I want Him to teach me and grant me more and more love in my heart so that it may overflow into the lives of others around me. So I ask all this Lord, in Jesus' name, Amen! Praise God!

Let's see... 2010 has been a year filled with hundreds of answered prayers. From prayers about doing well in school, to prayers for non-Christians, God has been overwhelmingly faithful. It is so true that the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases and His mercies never come to an end. They are new every morning.

In the past, God never seemed to answer my prayers. The requests I brought to Him were always requests that I felt were going to be granted in the faraway future. But now that Jesus and I are having a true relationship, I finally understand how powerful and effective the prayers of a righteous man are! And yes, I believe that I have been made right with God through faith in Lord Jesus Christ, whom I believe died and rose from the dead so that He may save me from eternal death. Today my prayers are no longer silently uttered in fragile hope. God has so greatly increased my faith, prayer after answered prayer.

2010 has also been a blessed year of enjoyment. Rockclimbing, surfing, white water rafting, snowboarding, horseback riding, roadtrips, carolling and of course, travelling... Somehow despite being almost constantly tight on money, I've managed to do a lot and see a lot this year. The interesting thing is I never really specifically asked God for this, but I prayed believing that He knew the desires of my heart and simply gave them all up to Him.

Somehow, my linguistic abilities have also improved significantly. Speaking in Russian comes more easily to me now and so does reading in Chinese. Writing twenty-page English essays aren't quite as painful as before and German is beginning to make sense.

One thing that has not improved however, is my plan on what to do after college graduation. Month after month, more and more people are asking me the same question: what are you going to do after you graduate?

Sigh. I hate to say it.

I don't know. I DON'T KNOW! I really have not a single clue. I am so clueless that I don't even know which direction to cast my net. So I am praying and waiting on the Lord. I am waiting until He tells me to cast my net somewhere because I am tired of living life my way. This time, I am quite ready to do it His way instead!

I thank you Lord, for letting me turn 21 this year... There are millions of people who will never live to see the day they turn 21.

I thank you Lord, for giving me good health and increasing my wisdom and knowledge of Your Word this year.

I praise God, for blessing my family members with Your presence and mercy.

We were singing this song in church today:



And I just lost it. I completely lost it,

I couldn't stop the tears from flowing freely and I couldn't even care about how people were staring at me (I was in the front row facing everyone else) because I was so overwhelmed by how far God has brought me through 2010.

SO FAR! SO GOOD!

Well... It's 02:51 and I really don't know how else to say how awesome God is. I guess the best I can do is just to continue in living my life for Him and for nobody else, not even myself. I am going into 2011 without any expectations really. Just a whole heartful of gratefulness and thanksgiving.

"For I know the plans I have for you" declares the Lord. "Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future" (Jeremiah 29:11)

"And we know that in all things God works for the good fo those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose" (Romans 8:28)




P.S.

I have resolved to pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests (Ephesians 6:18) more this year. There is nothing worse than experiencing a spiritual drought because I haven't dedicated time to speaking with God alone. And not to mention, things never go right if God's hand is not in it. This is what I desire for 2011.

No comments: