A Fresh Look At 2010 by Judi Jo Adams

A Fresh Look At 2010

The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.  So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.”  Luke 1:35

Mary was greeted by the most astonishing message on that day, so long ago, when the angel appeared to her.  We must remember she lived in a day when the voice of God was still rare & angels speaking to people were not the norm! Why?  We needed a Savior, someone to bring us back into fellowship with the presence of God.

Can you imagine how shocking it was to Mary to hear she would be used in the amazing reconciliation plan of God?  She could have given many responses, knowing that this could separate her from her engagement to Joseph.  Out of her heart came the beautiful answer:

“Be it unto me according to your will.”  Luke 1:38   

We tend to glamorize the manger & the years that followed Mary, but the truth is that it had to be difficult.  From having a baby in a dirty stable to escaping to Egypt & leaving their families behind, her obedience to God required her to pay a price.  

There is no greater place to be than in the center of God’s will.  At the same time, obedience to Him does cost us something.  If you study the life of Paul, he gave his all to press on in the plan of God.   Now, every moment of that will be rewarded with the very glory of God &, with that in mind, it makes each trial worth every minute!  I can remember many examples where it cost me greatly to obey God.  On our first trip to India, we travelled for 100’s of hours in coach class Indian trains… talk about rough!  With a huge back pack on my back, I can remember one day when I simply couldn’t physically walk another step!  Thronged by a crowd of people, I simply stopped walking & had reached the point of exhaustion.  Why?  Well, it requires something of us to follow in His steps & I would happily do it all over again.

Going through difficult times does not necessarily mean you are out of the will of God!  It may very well mean you are in harmony with his perfect plan!  Let’s think about this, His desire would be that we still lived in His glorious garden, but He understands that now we have to go the dirtiest of slums to seek what He has lost.   According to Luke 14:28, there comes a time in life when we simply have to count the cost.  In doing so, we realize that it is worth every last penny!  We gain a Heavenward focus & it changes everything for us!  We come to know that what we give up on earth is what we gain in Heaven, laying up for us riches that far exceed them all.

Well, New Years is almost here & with it generally comes a time when we stop to refocus.  As we do that this year, let’s take a fresh look at 2010 & consecrated anew to His plan.  When we stay consecrated, we are quicker to obey & hesitate less at what requires more of us.  During the years that we lived overseas, I found myself consecrating a fresh so often.  Truly, it does help us obey without looking back! For the children of Israel to get to the Promise Land, they had to go through the dessert.  For Joseph to be made second in all the land, he had to go through prison.  For us to fulfill the beautiful plan ahead of us, we must consecrate to walk through anything required to get to our promise as well!