Twanna sits down and reflects on 2023 while discussing what scripture will be encouraging her outlook as she enters into the new year.

Transcript

Twanna Henderson: Welcome to T Time: Spiritual Conversations For, With, and About Women. I’m your host, Twanna Henderson, and I first want to wish you a Happy New Year. It is so hard to believe that we have entered into 2024. But I’m so thankful to be on this side. I don’t know about you, but it seems as though 2023 was a blur in some ways. Do you feel like that? But I’m truly excited about a brand new year. I’m excited because we never know what the Lord intends for us, so I’m waiting in anticipation for what’s in store. When entering a new year, I always find it’s helpful to evaluate where I am in various areas of my life — of course, spiritually, but also relationally, emotionally, and physically. So on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being “I could do a whole lot better” to 10 being that “I have the sweeping victory,” realistically what’s going on and where am I really?

Of course we can always look to scripture for direction, and we should look to scripture for direction. So, let’s take a few moments and do just that. There is a psalm that you might not think is a New Year’s scripture, but as I read it more and more, it gives so much direction and guidance, I believe, for the new year. The psalm is Psalm 37. The psalm addresses the security of those who trust in the Lord. And I tell you, I’m so glad that there is security when we trust in Him. Because truthfully, sometimes we have to remind ourselves of this, because life can get very wonky. And we can have questions such as, “did I hear God?” or “am I doing what he told me to do?” and “why is everyone else not with the program?” So when we look at Psalm 37, believe it or not, there are probably 17 directives for the new year, just in this one psalm. Now, I won’t go through all of them, but I really want to highlight some of the verses. It begins in verse 1 with, “Do not worry because of evildoers.” Wow, we can really stop right there. We can easily make verse 1 our new year verse. “Do not worry.” Because sometimes we can really get lost in worrying about things that we have no control over and people we have no control over.

So maybe our prayer for this year starts there. “Lord help me to not be a worrywart. Help me to stop stressing over things that are outside of my control and people who I cannot control.” Now just saying that is freeing, amen? So, the solution to not worrying is in verse 3. Here’s what it says. It says to trust or rely on and have confidence in the Lord, and do good. Question: why is this so hard? Well, I believe, because oftentimes, we’re looking at things in the natural that don’t always add up. But trusting in the Lord is so important that the psalmist says it again in verse 5, “trust in Him also.” So let’s pause right there. If we determine at the top of the year not to worry and to trust in the Lord, doesn’t your outlook for 2024 look brighter already? Then, I suggest that we identify one to two people in our lives who can hold us accountable to 1. not worry and 2. to trust in the Lord even when it gets hard. Are you open to doing that with me? In fact, I want to invite you to read all of Psalm 37, because it gives us so much direction such as committing our way to the Lord, being still before the Lord, ceasing from anger. And wow, that’s a big one right there because our anger will definitely seek to derail our path for 2024. I love how verse 11 challenges us to be humble, which to me means to think of others better than myself. And here’s the kicker. The verse continues with saying that humility leads to abundant prosperity and peace. I don’t know about you, but I need all the prosperity and all the peace that I can get for the coming year. But verse 23 sums it up. It states that the steps of a good and righteous person are directed by the Lord, and God delights in this person’s way and blesses this person’s path.

I tell you, I really want the Lord to delight in my way and to bless my path. And I want that for you as well. Of course, we don’t know what the future holds. But we do know Who holds the future. And as we go into 2024, I just want to pray for you. And I pray that God would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit and the inner man. That Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. That you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints, what is the width, and length, and depth, and height, to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge. That you may be filled with all the fullness of God. And now to Him who’s able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we can ask or think, according to the power that works in us. To Him the glory in the church of Christ Jesus. To all generations forever and ever. Amen.

Thank you for joining us for another year of T Time. I’m Twanna Henderson, and I pray that you will experience prosperity and peace in this new year. Be blessed of the Lord.