Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love,
for I have put my trust in you.
Show me the way I should go,
for to you I entrust my life in you.

Teach me to do your will,
for you are my God;
may your good Spirit
lead me on level ground. 

Psalm 143

I am usually excited about the new year. Fresh start. New resolve. New ministry. All good.

Then the hard edges of real life elbow their way in. In no time at all, I am struggling to avoid anxiety and discouragement.

I won’t bore you with my list. I am reasonably sure that you have one, too. Finances, worries about your kids’ welfare, health concerns, job concerns, faith concerns. And if that isn’t enough, we share in the suffering of friends and family. Right now, I am waiting to hear about a dear 90-year-old who ended up in the hospital days after a grand birthday celebration.

The obvious grace is that for the most part, I and my family are OK. There is opportunity to experience joy because we are alive. There is opportunity to be grateful.

But that doesn’t always feel like enough.

I often think of the Israelites in the desert when I am feeling discouraged. The fact that my daily needs are met just doesn’t feel very satisfying because there are so many other problems. My future is uncertain. My daily challenges sometimes overwhelm.

How can you rejoice and be glad always when the road ahead just seems long and bumpy and covered in brambles? This is the honest, unvarnished truth of it. It is the ugly underside of my rock of faith.

God, where do I go from here?

Back to the basics. You’d think I would grasp this all by now and just do it, but I need a frequent refresher course. (Be sure to read the caveat at the end.)

1. Be grateful. Don’t wait for things to be good to be grateful; do it now! In being grateful, I have the hope of being joyful.

Yes, I realize how First World my usual complaints are. Millions struggle for the simple, basic daily needs of life — food, clean water, medicine. I have all of those things in abundance. At the same time, I have that pesky list of genuine concerns with which I must contend.

By being grateful, giving thanks in ALL circumstances, I am able to shift my gaze from my problems to Gods incredible capacity to provide mercy. His mercies are new each morning. He is faithful even when I am clinging to worry instead of clinging to Him. Not because He has to be, but because He loves me beyond understanding. That in itself is something for which to be grateful.

2. Be purposeful. Daniel purposed his heart to obey God when the king ordered him to do something else. It was a choice, an exercise of will and of courage, a vote of confidence in God’s ultimate power. The king could have thrown him in prison or had him killed. My choices seem small by comparison. If I want better health — even though there is no cure — I need to be more purposeful about what I do and how I eat.

3. Be prayerful. How can I tap into God’s power and purpose if I don’t talk to Him?

Back to the Israelites in the desert.
A few days after I started writing this, a friend provided the Sunday sermon. His message was on our impatience when we are walking through the desert. Sound familiar? At one point, after much grumbling and finger pointing on the part of the Israelites, God got His children’s attention by sending venomous snakes. After Moses interceded for his people, God provided a solution. A bronze snake raised up on a pole. If the people were bitten, they could look at the bronze snake and be saved.

This was a Band-Aid. But it signaled God’s plan to solve the problem of our hearts more completely.

Note to self: Keep your eyes on Jesus, who was raised up on a cross and then raised from the dead and then raised to sit in His rightful place at the right hand of God. If I keep my eyes on Jesus, my situation may not change, but my focus will be different.

Then maybe I can be grateful, purposeful and prayerful more easily. Not perfectly. But more often.

OK. That’s a start. Let’s go God!

Caveat: If you find yourself stuck in the pit, and you simply can’t get out, then you may need to consider therapy or medication. In the right circumstances, it can make all the difference. Talk to your doctor.