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As the new year begins, we’re all taking a deep breath. We can all agree that 2020 was challenging for each of us individually and for our society as a whole.
Last year we experienced a pandemic, political unrest, social justice tension, disease, isolation, and the loss of people and normalcy. We cannot sugarcoat it and say 2020 was all roses and daisies because, truly, it wasn’t.
I think we are all ready to wish 2020 good riddance and embrace the new year. Although we’d love for it to be this way, things didn’t just magically get better when the clock hit midnight and we began the year 2021.
We are all hoping and believing that this new year will be better than the last, but this reality can only be realized if we are willing to put in the work. The new year will not be better if we just will it to be; we have to take intentional steps to ensure that we make the most of 2021.
We hit the shortcomings of 2020 totally blindsighted and not fully equipped to handle the struggles that came month after month. We are not going into 2021 blind, we are going into it fully aware that we will face even more challenges. We have the advantage because we can know how to prepare ourselves and be able to withstand every difficulty and trail we may face. To paraphrase Obi-Wan Kenobi: “It’s over 2021, we have the high ground!”
The dawning of a new year provides us with the opportunity for a fresh start, fresh vision, and fresh purpose. We get to utilize all of the wisdom we obtained this past year and bring it into 2021 swinging.
There truly are so many things we have to look forward to as we start the new year. Check out these 5 steps to making the most of 2021.
You may be hard-pressed to think of a single bit of good when 2020 was full of so much bad. But regardless of the difficulties, 2020 still had so much good to be remembered for. This year has given us all an opportunity to grow and discover what truly matters.
For us, that one thing that truly matters is knowing the lover of our souls, Jesus Christ, and sharing His Good News to the world.
We ask you this: what is your one thing? If you can describe just one positive outcome of 2020, what would it be?
No matter what your “one thing” is specifically, the good things that have come out of this difficult year are the things we can choose to hold onto as we enter into a new year.
We cannot just wish away 2020 and pretend it never happened; we must embrace the good with the bad and hold fast to the hope Jesus gives us in the middle of the storm.
When we remember and rehearse the beautiful things God has done in us this year — even if we don’t understand or see them — we can handle anything that comes our way in 2021.
P.S. The way of the word is to be pessimistic, but we as believers know the Hope of the world! Because of the hope found in Jesus, we can make a choice to believe the best and be filled to the brim with optimism for this new season.
The greatest thing about making mistakes is that you get to learn from them, and we’re pretty positive we have all made some mistakes this year.
For many of us, we were thrust into uncharted waters when the pandemic hit. We had to learn to execute church operations fully online. We had to learn how to maintain community without physically gathering. Some of us even had to launch a website or social media site overnight.
The great thing is that all of us were on an equal playing field: we all needed to learn to acclimate to this “new normal.” Throughout this time, we have all had to learn by doing which means we had a lot of great triumphs, but also a few mistakes and mishaps too.
Mistakes are a huge part of the learning process because they afford us the opportunity to find out that what works for others may not work for us. Mistakes also challenge us to innovate and think of creative ways to operate as churches and nonprofits.
In order to make the most of 2021 we first need to figure out the best and worst of 2020. You can ask yourselves some of the following questions:
Reviewing the insights of 2020 can help you decide where your church or non-profit should invest their time and money in 2021. This analysis of your victories and triumphs will help you go into the new year with a clearer picture of what moves need to come next.
Last January, everyone and their mother marketed the concept of “2020 Vision.” (You probably saw a few dozen, or hundred, of these campaigns when the year began.)
Then March hit and all of our plans for launching new campuses, traveling for mission work, and hosting conferences came to a standstill. 2020 ended up turning out quite a bit differently than we envisioned it to be.
Just because our plans for were interrupted does not mean that our hopes for our churches and nonprofits don’t matter anymore. However, this does mean we may need to reevaluate our vision ever so slightly.
When we choose to follow Jesus, we are making the decision to declare Him as Lord and as the Author of our story. From there on out, we will continuously need to choose day by day to trust Him and believe that His plans are far better than our own.
Seeking Jesus means laying aside the things we want and exchanging them for something so much better and everlasting: the plans Jesus has for us.
Jeremiah 29:11 says “‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’”
Verses 12 & 13 go on to say this “Then you will call on Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart.”
God has plans for every single one of us and the plan for God’s people is not for harm, but for a hope and a future.
It is a part of our human nature to want to create and craft our own plans for what our lives should be like. But as we have seen, even our best laid plans can be laid to nothing in an instant.
If we truly want to follow the best plan for our life, we just seek the One who has written our story and knows the best thing for us. We simply do this by seeking God’s heart through prayer; meditating on the Word of God, and even through a time of fasting. Then we can begin to take our eyes off of our plans and fix them firmly on God’s plans.
The reality is though, only God’s plans are perfect. Only God’s plans are unshakable. Only God’s plans execute true hope and a bountiful future.
Our vision and plans must yield to the ultimate plan and purposes of Jesus if we ever want to see them come to pass. This is why prayer and seeking God are the very first and most important steps to take before even considering sharing your vision for your church or non-profit.
When our vision begins with communion with our Heavenly Father, we get a clearer picture of His heart and can begin to see His plans for us.
May we never take action and just hope God blesses it, but may we first seek God and ask Him to lead us to the vision.
Seek this God-vision and share the things He reveals to you to your community. Our congregations and communities need a glimmer of hope and sense of direction. Proverbs 29:18 explains it perfectly:
“Where there is no vision [no revelation of God and His word], the people are unrestrained; But happy and blessed is he who keeps the law [of God].”
There is a tendency in the human heart to become self-seeking when we are faced with life-changing circumstances. We saw the reality of this when toilet paper flew off the shelves in March of 2020 because everyone was gearing up for the apocalypse. More seriously, we saw people lose their livelihoods and who had no choice but to save every bit of money they had.
This tendency to hoard the things we value is just a part of what we do when we experience fear. We cannot blame you for wanting to do everything in your power to provide for your family and make sure you are taken care of.
While 2020 was marked by our tendency to hoard, we have an opportunity to make 2021 a year of open-handedness.
This is something that is only truly possible if we grab hold of the heart of God and His plan for generosity.
God is a provider. Matthew 6 says this:
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? …But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”
God is in the business of providing our every need. There are countless testimonies out there of people who were down to their last dollar and God miraculously provided checks in the mail and gifts from strangers.
We see a beautiful picture of this in Luke 21:1-4:
“As Jesus looked up, He saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury. He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins. ‘Truly I tell you,’ He said, ‘this poor widow has put in more than all the others. All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.’”
The heart of generosity says that even when I have nothing left, I will choose to give. I will choose to bless. I will choose to live generously and with an open hand.
This year does not need to be marked by a scarcity mindset. It can be marked by the people of God choosing to give even when it doesn’t make any sense, even when all you have left is two coins.
Our choice to be generous not only blesses others and pleases God, it also changes us. Generosity unlocks something in our hearts because our choice to be generous is an indication of our trust in God.
When we hoard our resources, we ultimately are lacking in trusting God because we believe deep down that He may not provide. But when we give generously, we are showing that we trust God enough to provide our every need no matter what our bank account says.
Proverbs 11:24-25 says it perfectly:
“The world of the generous gets larger and larger; the world of the stingy gets smaller and smaller. The one who blesses others is abundantly blessed; those who help others are helped.”
May this year be marked by our outlandish generosity and willingness to bless others.
We touched on optimism a bit at the beginning of this list, but we want to end our 5 steps to making the most of 2021 by honing in on it a bit more.
There is power in positivity. When you live in a workplace full of positive affirmations, you will likely perform better. If you are positive about a job interview. It is likely that you will interview well.
This past year left so many of us burnt out, tired, angry, and bitter. But living in a constant state of pessimism has some seriously negative effects on your soul.
The Bible speaks often about how believing the best can make a world a difference. To end this list, we want to leave you with some verses to meditate upon as you gear up for the new year.
We believe that if you enter into 2021 with these verses deep in your heart, you truly can make the absolute most of the new year!
“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” -Philippians 4:8
“A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.” -Proverbs 17:22
“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” -Romans 12:2
“Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.” -Romans 12:12
“Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life” -Proverbs 4:23
“For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.” -2 Corinthians 4:17-18
“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” -Romans 8:28
From all of us at Pro Media Fire, we want to wish you a very Happy New Year! May 2021 be your best year yet!
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