Maybe I’m unusual but the New Year is making me restless.  It feels like a time ripe for change, for new beginnings…but my wheels are just spinning.  I have so many goals, but only so many hours.  I have so much creative energy, but so little focus.  I feel like the New Year is saying “go go go,” “do do do,” but all I’m doing is the same old stuff.  Not really going anywhere.

At a time when people are making resolutions, establishing new patterns and habits, cleaning out cabinets and drawers, I am simply waiting.  Waiting for Him to show me what this year will bring.

Why is waiting so difficult for some of us?  I was born industrious and have been made more so by the demands of mothering and home-making.  And it’s mostly a good thing, because I can be quite productive at times.  But there’s a dark side to that industriousness, too.

When I am so busy making my plans that I become deaf to His.
“In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps.”
Proverbs 16:9

When I am working so hard that I don’t look to Him for rest.
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”
Matthew 11:28

When my industriousness becomes an idol of its own, replacing prayer and worship.
“May the favor of the Lord our God rest on us; establish the work of our hands for us—
yes, establish the work of our hands.”
Psalm 90:17

As this New Year begins I am still cleaning up the house, thinking through goals, and mulling over “words of the year” or other resolutions.  But I’m also recognizing my tendency to push busily through seasons when I’m meant to be waiting.  And right now is one of those for me.  If you’re there too, join me as we quiet ourselves enough to hear His voice.  Take joy in this season of peace.  Inhabit this moment of stillness.   Never allow the tyranny of being busy to overcome the tenderness of being patient.

Lord, forgive me when I put my plans ahead of yours.  I know that your ways are greater than mine and that I am at my best when I wait on you.  Today, establish the work of my hands so that everything I do is pleasing to you.  Amen.