Go with the Godly Flow in 2022

Will you ‘Go with the Godly flow’ or ‘Let your anger show’ in the year of the Lord 2022?  New Year Resolutions have been pondered, penned, and only time can tell what we will do!

As January debuts, we face freezing weather -hopefully snow, piles of paperwork, my son’s birthday (your family will surely celebrate special days too,  a holiday saluting Martin Luther King Jr. for peacefully and prayerfully seeking equality for all God’s people, short days and long nights with fireplaces crackling, heat pumps humming, Christmas decorations stored away,  holiday goodies still tempting night and day,  families cuddling on couches searching for a decent t.v. show to view, dreaded news reports, natural disasters, phenomenal happenings man can not explain, while staying closely connected to Christ being  the most important  thing on the list - to do.There are duties to love, care for family and people in need, check homework, attend meetings for church, work, recreation, and the list goes on…! With a year of opportunities ahead promising more to do than we can possibly get through, we look for help from the One who created us and knows the number of hairs on our heads to reveal  plans He has for us to do.  God, our Father,  promises never to leave or forsake us. His inner GPS (Holy Spirit) will guide us day by day, and Jesus (His Son) will be our Best Friend as He shows us The Way!

As 2022 begins, we make choices of how we will deal with what a new year brings. The choice to be angry and impatient, using words that lead to trouble have all the wrappings for a wretched year.  Making a list of things that bring trouble and turmoil reveals what many people fail to see happening within their hearts and homes.  Ephesians 4:31 (with added elaboration - all writing teachers (now retired) taught faithfully in order for their students to score a 4) lists troublesome things we do.

“Let all bitterness and indignation and wrath (passion, rage, bad temper) and resentment (anger, animosity) and quarreling (brawling, clamor, contention) and slander (evil-speaking, abusive or blasphemous language) be banished from you, with all malice (spite, ill will or deception of any kind)”!

Oh, what a list!  Which of these things poses the biggest problems for people in 2022?  All of them rear their ugly heads in ways we (oldie goldies - senior citizens - elderly) never thought we would see - extremely and  blatantly displayed from sea to shining sea!  Yet, angry, bad tempered, slanderous, spiteful, evil-speaking, bitter people are still loved by THEE!  He can heal harsh, hard people who even kill Christians. God did it for Saul (hated, heroic Christian killer) when He was blinded on the Road to Damascus. God sent encouragers to help Saul (Paul) experience the love of God transform him into a mighty man of integrity who lived by the Word, wrote much of the Word, and died for the cause of Christ.  If God could change Saul to Paul, He can work miracles in our lives too.  He doesn’t want us to live hard, harsh lives disconnected from Him. Just as Paul, we have the ability in the Holy Spirit to be adjustable and adaptable. We can live like Jesus and not like them - those who will - one day - hear His say: ‘depart from Me; I never knew you’! Romans 12:16

James reminds us to be quick to hear, slow to speak - take offense - and to get angry in James 1:19!  With multitudes of angry people demanding, disrespecting people and God, demonstrating, (not peacefully and purposefully like Martin Luther King Jr. did with honor and reverence for God), learning to control our tongues and actions could get God’s attention and bring miracles from our messes.  We must go with the Godly  flow...seeking His way in our words and actions every day.

“Understand (this) my beloved brethren. Let every man be quick to hear ( a ready listener), slow to speak, slow to take offense, and to get angry.”  James 1:19

The Lord sees our actions, attitudes, and resolutions for a new year!  He sees our prayer lists and hears our repentance of sins, pleas for forgiveness, and cries of frustration, as evil running rampant makes Him sad too. We know God is to be our First Love as we keep walking in faith while wondering: why, when, how did we (the land of the brave and the free - one nation under God with liberty and justice for all) allow the enemy to enhance anger, malice, division, and hatred for God’s Word and way...which could make our nation fall. “For such a time as this”... we must hold tightly to reins of hope, knowing with God’s help we can master our mouths, change our ways, and witness our heavenly Father work miracles and bring back…’Oh, Happy Days’!