4 Bible Stories for Your Resolutions
By now, it is mid-January. We, the masses, have bought our Pelotons and converted our basements into first-class luxury at-home gyms. We have made ambitious book lists. We have joined groups and programs to help us achieve our 2021 yearly goals. We have a strong resolve to change our lives through all sorts of self-improvement habits, from budgeting better to cooking healthier to getting organized. In thinking about this yearly practice of resolutions, I couldn’t help but to think about some of our Bible heroes, living their ordinary lives, and what I learn from them about working towards my own goals.
Nehemiah
A Career Change
Seventy years after the Exile, Nehemiah was working for King Artaxerxes. He was in a close relationship with the king, as he was his cupbearer, a trusted position. Moved deeply by the news of Jerusalem’s destruction, Nehemiah took four months to pray before taking action. He sought out direction about this breaking in his heart and what he was supposed to do about it. Eventually, he found an opportunity to speak to the king about his request: to go rebuild Jerusalem. It wasn’t because he was running away from something - a difficult boss, a boring job, disagreeable co-workers - rather he was running to something. Nehemiah was running to rebuild his heritage with deep conviction.
I’ve had my fair amount of job changes over the years. Often I reacted swiftly or emotionally, often with just as deep conviction but rarely with as much prayer. When I am being led to a change in my work, am I prayerfully asking God for direction? Am I patiently waiting for the right time to make a move? Or am I caught up in my own agenda that I miss this important part of my transition?
Ruth
Deep Relationships
Ruth experienced significant hardship. Married into an Israelite family foreign to her country Moab, she lost her father-in-law and, ten years later, her husband and brother-in-law. Ruth, along with Orpah, her sister-in-law, were from Moab, so they were near to their family. Noami released both Orpah and Ruth from the familial obligation to her. After some prodding from Naomi, Orpah took her up on the offer, but not Ruth. Ruth stayed by Naomi’s side. “Where you go, I will go, and where you stay, I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God.” Ruth 1:16 This decision aligned her as King David’s great-grandmother and in the lineage of Jesus Christ.
Would I have been Orpah - leaving behind my new family to return to what I know and what is comfortable to me? Do I seek out a comfortable community with others for what I can get out of it? Or would I have acted as Ruth did - loyal to my new community and drawn into what they offer, no matter how difficult the road before us? Do I determine to look ahead with those with me rather than romanticize the past?
Hezekiah
A Do-Over
One of the few good kings of Judah, Hezekiah fell ill and nearly died. The prophet Isaiah came to visit him and told him he should put his house in order because he wasn’t going to recover. Hezekiah cried out to God and wept bitterly. He didn’t understand why, after dedicating himself to righteousness, that his life would be cut short. God heard his cry and sent Isaiah back to the king with news his life would be extended another 15 years. Hezekiah stewarded this gift well.
I have never had a near-death experience, but I have experienced the loss of loved ones which reminds me that our days are numbered. Each day I wake, I see an opportunity for a do-over, a chance to go even further with what God has entrusted to me. What do I do with these opportunities? Do I apathetically let these dwindle from my fingers? Or do I rise up and honor the gift I have been given?
Daniel
Practicing Grounding Rhythms
Most noted for his face off with the lions, Daniel exhibited a strong grounding in his daily rhythm of prayer. Daniel made his way up the ladder to be in the good graces of King Darius. Meanwhile, his peers were not too fond of him and plotted a way to eliminate him. They manipulated the king to sign off on an order that anyone who prayed to anyone other than the king would be killed. In light of this opposition, Daniel did what he always did. Daniel prayed. He prayed the same as he did every day, with the window open and just as frequent. He didn’t hide. Rather he lived boldly in front of his enemies. And, if it hadn’t been for God’s intervention, this would have cost him his life.
What if Daniel’s boldness was not in spite or rebellion to what his peers did, but simply was grounded in his routine of prayer and discipline? Could my confidence be grounded in my intentional routines and rhythms I establish today for tomorrow’s trials? Am I willing to do the work of the day in and day out work so my practices are second nature?
Today, we have an opportunity to take just the next right step forward towards our goals. Thinking about our resolutions for 2021, we can emerge forward in boldness just like the ordinary heroes like these examples.
What is one of your resolutions? Who’s story resonates with you for this year? Shoot me an email and let me know! I love to hear from you!
