Photo Courtesy of Jim Parsons
Revelation
A new year is almost upon us, less than 5 hours as I type. As I reflect on 2015, I wonder if 2016 will be any different. What miraculous moments of ministry will happen? How will my congregation be different this year? How will I change over this next year? In what areas will I attempt to grow and stop in other areas? When I sit down on Dec. 31, 2016 how will the world be different because of God’s work through me?
I know people are making resolutions, or attempts to better them selves. It is common to make a resolution to lose 20 pounds and keep it off. Other will want to stop eating junk food or other bad habits. Resolutions though are made to be broken or if nothing else, not kept.
In 2016, I am praying for a revelation. Revelation is defined as “the divine or supernatural disclosure to humans of something relating to human existence or the world.” This is what I want out of a new year. This is what I need to move forward in my ministry. This is what I need in my life in order to keep my passion and love of God.
I am praying, in this new year, I can see, feel, experience, and be used by the Triune God I worship. I want to be a vessel for God’s love to be expressed in this world. I want to partake in the in-breaking of God’s kingdom in the here and now. This is the revelation I am praying for.
I pray that God would reveal in my life how this will happen. I pray that God will use the gifts and talents that he created me with to do this in 2016. Instead of a resolution, I pray for a revelation.
The Rev. Jim Parsons is a United Methodist pastor in North Carolina. He blogs at Adventures in Revland.