Jeremiah 29:13
When you search for me, yes, search for me with all your heart, you will find me.
This weekend we close the book on what has been a tumultuous 2021, and open a new chapter in 2022. In my mind, 2021 was a year full of unexpected twists and turns. Just as quickly as things settled down with the pandemic and life, things were stirred back up just as fast. There was a lot of adaptation to the “new normal,” and while some things came back pretty naturally, other things look like they’ll never be the same.
No matter what state we exit 2021 and enter into 2022, I really believe that God is up to something new in the Life-Spring family. Siang Yang on one of his many visits to the church mentioned something in one of his messages that continues to stay with me. He said, many times we think that we want to do great things for God. But God doesn’t need us to do great things for Him. He just needs us to do things for a great God.
I think this idea of doing things for a great God resonates well with our theme for 2022, For His Name’s Sake. In all honesty, we really don’t know what God will be doing in the Life-Spring family in 2022. We don’t know exactly where God will be taking us, or the kinds of things and opportunities that will emerge through the year. But one thing we can be sure of is that our great God will be at work in us, among us, and through us. It may not be very flashy or attract a lot of attention. Like Gabe mentioned in the launch for 2022, For His Name’s Sake is usually not very glamorous. But when we do things for the sake of the King, it doesn’t need to be extravagant or showy. God has no need for things to be showy. What really matters to God is that we’re obedient in the big and small things alike.
In my life group meeting a few weeks ago, we were talking about generational blessings and curses, especially as they apply to our kids. One point that was made stood out to me–the greatest generational blessing we can give to our kids is obedience, to show them what obedience to God looks like and to encourage them in it. In the end, what God will require of us in 2022 is the exact same thing as what God has required of us in all years past, obedience. It’s in our obedience and through our obedience that we can expect to see things from a great God.
So how do we begin doing things for a great God? One very good way is to join us in fasting in January! Again, fasting doesn’t need to be some big or flashy display. In fact, fasting is often quite the opposite. In many ways fasting is a lesson in humility, as we lower some aspect of our own lives and lift God up instead. But it’s through such seemingly small actions that God often works in the mightiest ways.
So let’s begin 2022 together with a simple act of obedience in fasting. And as we fast, we anticipate things from a great God.