It’s me, Selene, the blogger behind P.I.M & PINK, writing this to you! 👩🏻💻🎀🤍
I sincerely hope and pray that all of you are having a very lovely, serene, and healing spring day today in Jesus name! 🙏🌸🤍✨
Welcome to today’s very special blog post where I will be sharing with you my third YouTube video on my blog’s official YouTube channel, also known as the official P.I.M & PINK YouTube channel! Yay! 🤗🌸🤍✨
In my third YouTube video, I cover my second topic, in which I encourage you to choose to react to difficult changes that life has brought you or is currently bringing you in a way that shows biblical wisdom and aligns with the truth and instructions found in the Bible, God’s Holy Word. 🌸🤍✨
Furthermore, in light of the topic of life changes, I spend time sharing with you a very specific, yet relatable example of one particular change in my life that has personally impacted me and those around me. ⛸️🤍✨
I truly hope that my reaction to the example of the specific life change that I give and share could be of some help and encouragement for you and/or someone else you share this video with who is going through a tough change in life as well. 🤍✨
With all of that being said, you can watch my third video down below! I hope that you enjoy it and that it encourages you. Make sure to subscribe to my blog and my channel, P.I.M & PINK, if you have not already, so you do not miss out on new videos in the future, for I would love and appreciate it if you could follow me along on this journey! 🤗🌸🤍✨
As always, thank you so much for reading and watching! I hope that you found my third YouTube video to be enjoyable, valuable, and encouraging, and if it resonated with you, feel free to share your thoughts in the comment section down below, for I would love to hear from you. You can also share this video with a friend or a family member who may need to hear it as well! 🤗🤍✨
For more videos, blog posts, and content, I encourage you to subscribe to my blog/website and my channel, P.I.M & PINK, if you have not already, and you can follow my blog’s official social media accounts, which I have listed down below:
May God bless all of you and protect all of you, and I pray that all of you are safe and healthy always and are having a very lovely, serene, and healing spring so far! 🙏🌸🤍✨
In early December 2023, I performed in my first-ever Nutcracker ballet production, which consisted of four shows in total! 🎄🩰✨
It was a great experience, and I loved it! However, rather than talk about my experience performing in the Nutcracker, instead, I am going to talk about another personal experience that occurred during the time leading up to my first Nutcracker ballet performances. So without further ado, let’s begin! 😁
For the Nutcracker production, I was selected for the role of the maid. The maid was a featured role, and given that this was my first Nutcracker production, I was rather pleased to be selected for it. It also meant that I could be a part of the party scene in the Nutcracker, which is one of the scenes that I always loved watching growing up. However, before I could get too comfortable in my role, a problem arose specifically related to what I would have to do in a few of my scenes. In the party scene of the Nutcracker, I was told that I would have to pretend to serve alcoholic beverages to the adult guests, and later pretend that I was drinking a bottle of alcohol myself.
Such actions were typical for the role of the maid and served to add a little comedy to the show and stir up amusement within the audience. Despite such positives, I very much did not want to pretend to serve alcohol or, even worse, pretend to drink alcohol myself. This is because I do not drink alcohol myself, and because I believe that alcohol is something that should be avoided. This belief is based on Biblical scriptures that warn against the dangers (the main danger being the sin of drunkenness and its effects) of alcohol, which are described to be a mocker, a brawler, and are as dangerous as a serpent’s bite or an adder’s sting (Ephesians 5:18; Proverbs 20:1; Proverbs 23:29-35).
Because I hold this belief, I felt like I would be compromising my beliefs and values if I were to perform those actions for my role, even if I was just pretending. My conscience simply was not comfortable with it. Some people who know my beliefs regarding alcohol were also attending the show, and I was concerned that they would see me pretending to serve and drink alcohol and consider my actions as a compromise too.
Additionally, I heard that there was already controversy regarding the alcohol-related scenes in my dance school’s Nutcracker. In previous years, before my appearance, my dance school had received a lot of criticism from parents who were concerned that the alcohol scenes in the show were promoting alcoholism in front of their children. Specifically, parents would complain about someone who is under the legal age of drinking alcohol playing the maid in the Nutcracker, and pretending to serve and drink alcohol. With me, a young adult at the appropriate age to drink alcohol, now playing the role of the maid, controversy regarding that issue seemed to be alleviated. However, I still felt concerned that I would still be promoting alcoholism, despite being of the age to drink alcohol, due to my beliefs regarding alcohol. 😐
Given all of my concerns regarding my role as the maid, I started to contemplate whether I should express my concerns to my ballet instructor. However, I unexpectedly found that the decision was much harder to make than I thought. This is because I had a fear that if I expressed my discomfort and concerns about promoting alcoholism in the Nutcracker, as well as my unwillingness to do such actions as the maid due to my beliefs that are based on Biblical scriptures regarding alcohol, I would lose the role of the maid and be taken out of the party scene in the Nutcracker, which I loved, and perhaps be taken out of the Nutcracker production entirely.
Ultimately, I found myself in a dilemma. Considering that I always dreamed of being in the Nutcracker, I became concerned about losing this opportunity if I expressed my concerns centered around my beliefs and values. However, if I did not express my concerns and chose to still pretend to serve and drink alcohol in the Nutcracker, I would only then be going against my beliefs regarding alcohol. And because I am thoroughly convinced within my own conscience to avoid alcohol, and I believe that it would be wrong for me to drink and/or promote alcohol because of how the Bible describes it, I would only then be going against my conscience and therefore condemn myself, which is a sin according to the end of Romans 14(NIV) in the Bible, where Paul talks about not going against our conscience if we are thoroughly convinced that something is sinful or not.
And so, reader, this dilemma that I found myself in is what I wanted to share with you because it represents a truth about life. In this life, many opportunities will present themselves before us that can relate to our deepest dreams, desires, and goals. While these opportunities may be greatly appealing, many of them could seemingly be grasped at the cost of your core beliefs, values, and principles. Specifically, for Christians, there are many opportunities that the world may offer us that may be greatly appealing and rewarding but would require us to do things that are unbiblical and would cause us to compromise our relationship with God. In these types of situations, it can be very tempting to compromise our principles and values, so that we can take advantage of such opportunities, especially if such opportunities are “once in a lifetime” and could be lost if we choose to stick to our beliefs.
So, when faced with these kinds of dilemmas, where we struggle to choose between our beliefs or a “wonderful” opportunity, what do we do? Well, for us as Christians, the first thing we ought to do is seek God’s guidance regarding the situation. However, reader, based on my experience, do not be surprised if God is seemingly silent when you are in these types of situations. When faced with such difficult decisions, we often ask God to reveal to us the outcome of our decisions, or even pray for Him to guarantee us a particular outcome.
For example, in my case, I would have liked for God to guarantee that I could still perform as the maid in the Nutcracker, even if I expressed my unwillingness to pretend to serve and drink alcohol. However, God did not guarantee anything, but He was by no means silent. Through my family, God instead encouraged me to stick to my beliefs, express my concerns to my ballet instructor, and trust in Him to help me stand my ground no matter what the outcome would be. And just to be clear, I am saying that God encouraged me to trust in Him despite the outcome, NOT trust in Him to give me the outcome that I want. Even if I should lose the role of the maid and be removed from the party scene in the Nutcracker or the Nutcracker production entirely, I should still trust in God and not let this lost opportunity cause me to turn away from God. Additionally, considering that God is the one who gave me the desire to dance ballet in the first place, I should trust that He has a plan that is even better than my plans. After all, as Psalm 25:10 (NIV) in the Bible states, “All the ways of the Lord are loving and faithful toward those who keep the demands of His covenant”.
After being encouraged by God through my family, I decided to express my concerns to my ballet instructor and was prepared to lose out on being a part of the Nutcracker for the sake of not compromising my more important beliefs. And so, with an anxious heart, I communicated that I was not comfortable with pretending to serve and drink alcohol based on my beliefs.
And to my relief and delight, reader, I was not removed from the Nutcracker! Instead, to my surprise, my ballet instructor and the other organizers altered my role so that I did not have to pretend to drink alcohol, and instead of serving alcohol, I would instead be serving a well-prepared tray full of fruits, cheeses, and bread. And so, come showtime, I was able to comfortably perform my role as the maid as I was no longer concerned with compromising my values and promoting alcoholism. The fact that I was still able to perform in the Nutcracker is something that I consider to be a blessing from God and I am ultimately thankful to Him for allowing me to still perform. Ultimately, however, the greater feeling of satisfaction resulted from standing my ground and choosing not to compromise my principles, beliefs, and values, even if it meant losing it all. ✨
Therefore, reader, as you can see, thanks to God’s encouragement, I was able to stand by my beliefs despite my fears. And though I was prepared to lose a wonderful opportunity and trust that God’s ways are better than my own or the world’s, by His grace and mercy, I was still able to perform. Let this be an encouragement to you, reader, to always commit your ways to the Lord and to trust in Him always. God always knows what’s best for us, so when we choose to do things our way instead, we could fail to reap the benefits of following the will of God.
For instance, take for example the real-life story of Jesus Christ praying in the garden of Gethsemane in Matthew 26:36-46 (NIV) in the Bible. In the story, Jesus Christ was praying in the garden of Gethsemane, talking with God to see if there was some way He did not have to suffer and be crucified on the cross. The Word of God says that Jesus’s soul was overwhelmed with sorrow and that He was stressing to the point of death over what He knew was coming. Ultimately, after each prayer to God, Jesus still expressed that He would not commit to His will, but to God’s will. This is easily understood when we remember that Jesus being fully God, was also fully human. As a human, Jesus, throughout His life, was faced with many of the temptations we experience in our lives. One of these temptations includes selfishly preserving our own well-being over the well-being of others. In the garden, Jesus Christ denied this temptation, just as He did all other temptations, and instead chose to go through with allowing Himself to be arrested, tortured, and crucified. And it is thanks to His decision that we, as sinners, have been forgiven of our sins due to Jesus Christ’s sacrifice and can receive God’s gift of salvation and have a personal relationship with Him.
Think about this for a moment, reader: What if Jesus, in the garden of Gethsemane, decided not to do God’s will? What if He decided to not allow Himself to suffer and die for our sake? Sure, if He chose not to do God’s will, He could have spared Himself from the suffering He experienced, preserving His well-being, but as a result we would not have been saved and freed from the bondage of sin and death, and all of us would be eternally separated from God once we die. But because Jesus instead trusted and obeyed God’s will, we now have salvation from sin and can spend eternal life in heaven with God if we put our trust in God the Son, Jesus Christ, and accept Him into our hearts and our lives as our personal Lord and Savior. ❤️
From Jesus’s experience, we learn what to do when it comes to deciding between God’s will or another option. We may be at times reluctant to do God’s will, especially if doing so may bring about suffering or great costs, such as in the case of Jesus. However, also in the case of Jesus, we see that following God’s will, no matter what suffering or costs that may bring, is ultimately better than following any other path. By choosing to do God’s will, Jesus did suffer greatly and died on behalf of all sinners, despite being completely sinless Himself and innocent of any crimes. However, in the end, Jesus resurrected with a new body and freed us from the bondage of sin. Now, Jesus is in heaven, alive and well, and will soon return to earth to bring to heaven all those who have put their faith in Him!🙌💕✨
In conclusion, reader, when you find yourself in situations where you have to choose between a “good” opportunity or doing God’s will, you should always choose to do God’s will. Even if you find that the opportunity is “once in a lifetime”, something that you longed for, and something that you could lose if you choose to stick to God and your values, you should still choose God and your values. Even in cases where God does not guarantee your desired outcome and the only thing that is seemingly guaranteed is suffering or loss, you should still trust in God and believe that He knows what’s best for you. This is easier said than done because there are many wonderful opportunities out there that even the enemy, Satan, will try to offer you and convince you to not follow God’s ways. Do not fall for this, for as Mark 8:36 (NIV) says “What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit (or lose) their soul?”.
Do not be afraid to stand up for God and what you believe in. Ask God for the courage to choose Him when faced with another option that may be extremely tempting. As Jesus told His disciples in the garden of Gethsemane when He found them sleeping instead of praying like He requested, “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Matthew 26:41 (NIV)). Even when following God’s will seems to come at a great loss, have faith and know that when you follow God, your Father in Heaven will seize your stance and bless you with far greater than what you lost! ✨
Thank you so much, reader, for taking the time to read this post! I hope that it has served to encourage you when you are faced with shiny opportunities, events, or situations that could cause you to compromise your principles and values. My experience has served to strengthen my resolve to always be a light for Christ, even in the ballet world, and never be afraid to speak up, not compromise my principles and stance, and most importantly, trust in God, no matter what happens.
I wanted to do this post right around the beginning of the new year because I thought that it would be good for those of you who are starting to make New Year’s resolutions. I encourage those of you who are making resolutions to align them with God’s will and to not compromise your principles, values, and/or convictions when trying to accomplish your goals for this year (and all other years). Additionally, though this post is not about alcohol, I hope expressing my own convictions regarding alcohol will encourage you to maybe think twice before you pop a bottle of alcohol in celebration of the New Year. 😂
Furthermore, I want to thank those who supported my first ballet performances in the Nutcracker, and I thank God most of all for giving me the opportunity to perform and the strength and courage to perform at my best in front of people once again.
As I finally close, reader, I want to thank you again for reading and I wanted to leave you with this Scripture verse to encourage you in times when you may have to choose between God or anything else:
“Joyful are people of integrity, who follow the instructions of the Lord. Joyful are those who obey His laws and search for Him with all their hearts. They do not compromise with evil, and they walk only in His paths” (Psalm 119:1-3 (NLT)).
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I hope that you found this post to be valuable and encouraging, reader, and if it resonated with you, feel free to share your thoughts in the comment section down below, for I would love to hear from you. You can also share this post with a friend or family member who may need to read it as well. 🤗🤍
Also, make sure to like and subscribe to my blog, P.I.M & PINK, so you do not miss out on new blog posts, videos, and content, in the future! ✨
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Thank you, P.I.M PALS, for all of your love and support on my blog, P.I.M & PINK, in 2023 and all of the years prior. 🫶🏼💕
May God bless you and protect you, and I pray that all of us have a safe and healthy New Year (and all of the years to come) filled with joy and peace, and we will in Jesus name! 🙏🤍
Lay any burdens you have at God’s feet, and look forward to the beautiful plans that God has in store for you and everyone in 2024 and so forth! ✨
Two years ago, I wrote a blog post called, “To My Late Bloomers“. In that blog post, I encouraged late bloomers to have the courage to still pursue their dreams, even if they are pursuing them much later in life.
As a late bloomer myself, I shared my own experience of taking ballet lessons at the age of sixteen, which I consider to be a late start in the ballet world.
Furthermore, in that blog post, I covered my experience at the dance school and how I was being received by the other ballerinas.
In that blog post, I expressed how happy I was to finally see myself have the courage to live my ballet dream, even if it meant feeling like a “giraffe in the room”🦒. Eventually, however, I did leave that dance school for a variety of reasons, primarily due to not receiving the feedback that I was looking for from the ballet teacher and being mistreated by some of the other dancers there.
Though I was still fine with leaving that particular dance school, I still desired to do ballet, which made leaving that dance school a bittersweet experience. After leaving, I stopped going to in-person ballet classes for a long time, and instead, I focused on my studies, finishing high school, and preparing for college. 📚✍🏼🏫
However, even after I left that dance school, I still continued to teach myself ballet at home with the intent to one day return to in-person classes for ballet.
Little did I know, in 2023, for my 21st birthday, my parents had a special present for me. Along with a trip to Washington D.C. to see the Japanese cherry blossoms in the spring (which you can read more about in my “Begin to Blossom” blog post), my parents also surprised me with a private ballet lesson from the owner of a professional dance school that I always dreamed of being enrolled to.
Upon hearing the news, I cried tears of joy and excitement as I felt like this was the start of a new chapter in my life. However, I also felt very nervous because I heard that the owner of the dance school was a very strict ballet instructor, and I feared that my current level of ballet would not impress her. Thankfully though, my parents alleviated my concerns by constantly reminding me throughout the week that this private ballet lesson was to help me grow in my ballet skills and capabilities and that I did not have to be perfect or try to impress the ballet instructor. 😅
The day finally came on Friday, May 12, 2023, when I had my first private ballet lesson with the owner of the ballet school of my dreams! I could not help but smile throughout the entire time she instructed me. My mother basically filmed the entire lesson! 😄🩰🤍
During the private ballet lesson, the owner asked me why I wanted to do ballet, and my response to her was that I always loved ballet, and I always had a desire to do it. Additionally, I mentioned to her that over the years, I have watched many ballet shows from her dance school, and it inspired me to learn ballet and perform gracefully and beautifully on stage one day. 🩰✨
Throughout the private ballet lesson, the owner was impressed with me. For one, she said that I was very smart and that I follow along fast. She even addressed my insecurity about my age (I was twenty years old at the time) by telling and reassuring me that my age was an advantage because, in her words, “The older you are, the faster you learn.” And therefore, she said that I will advance very quickly in ballet. Overall, the owner gave me very helpful feedback throughout the entire private ballet lesson, which I needed and appreciated so much. 🙏🤍
After the private ballet lesson was over, the owner’s husband pointed out to me several beautiful black and white photos of professional ballet dancers who graduated from their dance school. For one, he pointed out to me a photo of a successful male ballet dancer who started dancing at nineteen years old. He also pointed out to me photos of professional ballet dancers who are also professional figure skaters and even hockey players, which further inspired me as someone who has also been taking figure skating lessons and aspires to perform on ice one day (which you can read more about in my “Introducing New Series…Prove it to Yourself” blog post). ⛸️❄️
While at the dance school, I also met several wonderful ballet dancers that welcomed me with courtesy and gave me encouragement. For instance, I met a ballerina who is in her fifties and is currently taking beginner-level ballet classes at the dance school, which further served to mitigate my insecurity relating to my age. I also met an eighteen-year-old boy at the dance school who has only been doing ballet for two years and has competed in professional ballet competitions and received several ballet school scholarships. Seeing him showed me how someone my age (or close to my age) can excel so quickly at something they are passionate about, which further motivated me to work hard at ballet. 🩰✨
Overall, the private ballet lesson was a truly wonderful experience, in which I learned so much and became more motivated and inspired to continue practicing ballet. One notable experience that touched me was a quote I saw that was written on a brochure that my father pointed out to me in the dance school. The quote said, “Dance because you are beautiful.” Soon enough, I enrolled in the dance school and started taking regular ballet classes the next week on Saturday, May 20, 2023, and on that same day, I even watched a beautiful in-studio show at the dance school for the first time, which served to further inspire me! 🩰🤍
For the summer, I even decided to join a ballet summer intensive program on June 21, 2023, that is offered at the dance school that I am currently enrolled in. My father, who is a Marine, likes to call the ballet summer intensive program, “ballet boot camp”, because it is very intense, but it is still very exciting because I will be a part of ballet shows that I always dreamed of being in and I will be performing a solo in front of the owner and the advanced level ballerinas. So, stay tuned for that, reader, because I will be launching a new blog post about my first-ever ballet performances in the near future and I would love for you to be a part of this journey with me. 🩰✨
The point of me sharing with you my ballet journey so far though, reader, is to further reinforce the message to not let your age stop you from pursuing your dreams like it did mine for so long, especially when your dreams come from God. Did you know that some of your dreams come from God, reader? If you have a desire or desires gifted to you from God and it aligns with God’s will, have the courage to start working towards it, because it will manifest one day. ✨
Ballet is just one of my God-given desires, but I can say now that I am truly living out that desire as I am now training at a professional dance institution to become a professional ballerina. I even received confirmation of this desire from the Holy Spirit who took the time to speak to me through my father to tell me that I will soon be dancing at the professional apprentice level like the professional ballerinas in the ballet schools in New York and Europe. Furthermore, the owner of my dance school told me that one day I can be her apprentice, which aligned with what the Holy Spirit told me. All of this assured me that my desire to be a ballet dancer came from God and that He gifted me with it. 🩰✨
I am so excited about what awaits me as I pursue ballet. But no matter what, when I dance, I will be dancing for the Lord. I will be dancing from my heart for His glory, for He is the One who gave me this desire to dance in the first place. For that, I will always be grateful and bold to praise Him. 🩰🤍
Therefore, reader, if you have God-given desires, but you are holding yourself back because you think you are too old or too young or you missed your opportunity, go to God and trust Him with a plan to help manifest your desires and work towards them and He will guide you. As the Scripture verse, Psalm 37:4-5 (ESV) says, “Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in Him, and He will act.”
Psalm 145:16 (ESV) says, “You open your hand; you satisfy the desire of every living thing.”
Matthew 6:33 (ESV) says, “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
Deuteronomy 31:6-8 (NIV) says, “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you.”
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So, reader, what is your God-given desire? ✨
I hope that you found this post to be valuable and inspiring, reader, and if it resonated with you, feel free to share your thoughts in the comment section. I would love to hear from you. Thank you so much for reading! 🤍
Also, make sure to like and subscribe to my blog, P.I.M & PINK, so you do not miss out on new blog posts, videos, and content in the future. ✨
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May God grant you your heart’s desire and fulfill all your plans, reader, as it says in Psalm 20:4 (ESV). May God bless you and protect you always, and I pray that you are safe and healthy always. 🙏🤍
I hope that wherever you are in the world, you are safe and healthy and enjoying the start of the new year. ✨
Video by Selene Washington on pimandpink.com
The beginning of the new year is a grand event celebrated by almost everyone. But for some, this event can breed uncertainty amongst those who are anxious about what might take place during the new year. During multiple New Year’s celebrations, I can recall being concerned about the trials and troubles I or my family might experience during the year. Additionally, as many of you could relate, my concern for the upcoming year was further heightened this past New Year’s by the suffering I endured during 2022. Specifically, all of the fear, anxiety, physical discomfort, etc., that I experienced in 2022 put me in a constant struggle to find even the smallest amount of peace within myself.
Despite these concerns, however, on the morning of New Year’s Eve, I felt a strong sense of peace, while in my room. I found myself saying in my head, “Wow, I feel so peaceful, where is this feeling of peace coming from?” I wasn’t looking at anything that could bring me this level of peace, and I didn’t hear any good news or do any fun or peaceful activities such as reading or drinking tea. After all, I had just woken up from sleeping! However, it did not take me long to know that this “wave” of indescribable peace didn’t come out of nowhere, but instead came from God.
God entered my room right after I woke up and flooded me with His peaceful presence. This was even before I read my daily devotions, play worship music, or even pray to Him. The first thing He wanted me to do to start my day was to feel the peace He was giving me. And as the scriptures say, that peace truly surpassed all of my understanding (Philippians 4:7 (NIV)).
When I experienced the peace of God in my room, I just decided to sit and immerse myself in it. I did not look at anything, read anything, or even play praise and worship music in the background. It was just me and God, and I instantly went into prayer, thanking Him for this incredible feeling of peace that assured me that He is with me throughout my suffering and doubt. God also told me that my family and I will have a peaceful year and that He will always be with us and protect us from harm and danger.
While praying to Him and thanking Him, I felt like He began to give me instructions and His Will for me for the new year. He gave me instructions about every one of my desires and plans for the new year which gave me a greater sense of peace.
God gave me instruction, not necessarily by speaking directly to me, but through my thoughts. At first, this caused me to question the thoughts I was having on whether they were instructions from God or just my thoughts. However, thanks to wisdom from God, given to me through my father, I was reassured that the thoughts I had while feeling God’s peaceful presence were His instructions, as those thoughts aligned with the Word of God, which holds God’s Will and His instruction. Upon learning this, I was able to confidently heed the Lord’s instructions and become encouraged in Him, just as David did during a time of great distress according to 1 Samuel 30:6 (KJV).
Once I shared this experience with my family, they also became encouraged. Additionally, we all became further resolved in trusting in God’s promises for the new year, because at the end of the day, He is all-knowing and He sees all, including that which we don’t know or see ourselves.
These are also the reasons why my family and I are starting 2023 with Proverbs 16:3 (NIV), which says, “Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and He will establish your plans”. Since God knows everything, including our plans for 2023 and beyond, that means He also knows the outcome of each of our plans. This also means that He knows which plans will prove to be fruitful and which won’t. And so, by committing our plans to Him, He will evaluate each plan and determine what plans we should pursue, or in other words, align with His Will.
How this may apply to you, the reader is through a common tradition that many people participate in at the start of each new year: New Year’s resolutions. Many people at the beginning of a new year make “resolutions” or firm decisions to do something that are usually impactful to their own lives or others. Because the new year is in many ways symbolic of a new start, it can serve as a motivator for some people to accomplish certain goals within the upcoming year. This motivation can be pretty strong, and I have seen many accomplish their goals fueled by the start of the new year. However, as almost everybody knows, more often than not people fail to accomplish or maintain their New Year’s resolutions. There are many reasons why people fail to maintain their resolutions, but all of them can be simplified with the following: The adrenaline of the New Year is not a strong enough foundation to build your goals.
While there is nothing wrong with making New Year resolutions or being motivated by the new year to do something, the adrenaline of the new year can easily and quickly dissipate, especially when considering the small amount of patience and determination people can have when they don’t accomplish their goals right away. Additionally, when filled with the excitement of the new year, many people rashly create plans/resolutions for the year that ultimately prove to be reckless, not achievable, unrealistic, and a waste of time. My point is that although New Year’s resolutions can be great and even feasible, solely creating plans for the year with the sole motivation and foundation being the New Year is not the best strategy.
This is why I say that when creating your plans for the new year, you should do what Proverbs 16:3 (NIV) says to do and commit your plans to God. Compared to the beginning of the new year, God is a better foundation where you can lay your plans, because He knows all and, therefore, knows which plans you should pursue and how you should pursue them.
Additionally, Proverbs 16:9 (NIV) says, “In their hearts, humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps.” While this verse does acknowledge the path that we want to take as humans, it also tells us that God is the one who ultimately determines and knows the best course of action we should take and how we should live. That is why you can trust that when you commit your plans to God, He will give you the necessary guidance and instruction and that if you heed His instruction and allow Him to guide you, you will be walking the right path. After all, as it says in Proverbs 16:20 (NIV), “Whoever gives heed to instruction prospers, and blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord.”
So, reader, I encourage you today to go to God and commit to Him your plans. Give Him all of your bright ideas, thoughts, plans, desires, and dreams, and He will guide you on the path you should take. Just take it as if you were going to someone for advice, except that this “someone” is the all-knowing, all-powerful, and benevolent God who knows what’s best for you.
And as I talked about earlier, if, like me, you are seeking peace for 2023 and the years to come, then go to God and ask Him to give you peace beyond all understanding. There are many people out in the world evoking God during the new year, and as a result, God is moving. So I can say with confidence that if you go to Him for peace, He will provide. In Matthew 11:28-30 (NIV), Jesus says, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Even during times of trouble and distress, be confident in knowing that when you pray to God, He will guard your heart and mind and fill you with peace. And along with God’s grace, by aligning your thoughts, words, and actions with God’s Word, you can further receive God’s gift of peace this year, and for all the years to follow.
And so, to close out, I say to all who read this post, Happy New Year and, as Romans 15:33 (NIV) says, “The God of peace be with you all. Amen.” ✨
So, reader, do you make New Year’s resolutions? If so, are you committing them to God?
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Thank you so much for reading! I hope you found this post to be valuable, and if it resonated with you, feel free to share your thoughts in the comment section. I would love to hear from you. 💕
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