Did you make New Year resolutions? Have you already encountered struggles keeping them? Here’s the good news: you can forget them! Resolutions rarely bring lasting change. Perhaps because God did not design us to make changes on our own.

Lord God created our hands to serve a variety of purposes. Although he has given us the ability to make fists, little good is accomplished if we always keep our hands in this closed position. In the same way, everyone suffers if we keep our lives tightly closed off from the transforming power of our Creator.

On some levels, I am scared of the unknown that awaits me. Sometimes, I struggle with human fears. However, they don’t even come close to my reverent fear of the Lord. It’s really quite simple: I would rather face my momentary earthly fears now, than face the Lord in heaven and try to ashamedly explain why I didn’t step out in faith to follow him when he called me.

Will your celebration this year be the same relentless race from Thanksgiving to the New Year’s finish line? Many people—even Christians—admit that November and December usually blur together. Christmas comes and goes somewhere in the midst of all the busyness.

Often, those who choose the narrow path will experience unforeseen delays and barriers along our journey. Encountering crossroads and detours leaves travelers questioning whether we are still on the right path. Sometimes, we have no other option than to walk through intense fiery furnaces before reaching our appointed destination—the Promised Land.

Let’s get to know the only person in the entire universe who is all-knowing, all-powerful, present everywhere and who is willing and able to care for every person at the same time. God has chosen to reveal himself in many ways so that people from every culture and socioeconomic background, throughout all generations, may know and interact with him.