Welcome to 2021:
Right Thinking Ushers in Right Planning -By Babatunde Olugboji
2020 was a year of racial tensions, struggles for social justice across the globe, of oppression and depression, of lost destinies, of political battles. And of Covid-19 and its attendant issues, including coping with lockdown, social distancing, masking up, etc.
2020 was one of the most divisive, challenging, and eventful year for many of us, a year of broken dreams for believers and unbelievers alike. The nature of the year could make the transition to, and planning for, 2021 very tricky.
Did you remember when 2020 started and you thought it would be like any other year? Then Covid-19 hit. Then the protests. Then the US elections. Economic issues. Public health concerns. Many carefully laid plans for 2020 were disrupted, begging the questions: why should we plan for 2021 when we do not know what the new year will bring, when it could be another 2020? Won’t it be a waste of time to start planning so early in the new year?
Note that as followers of Christ, we are not exempted from the vicissitudes of life. We buy food and other things in the same shops as unbelievers do, we pursue careers as unbelievers, we invest in similar financial instruments. That was why Jesus said: In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world (John 16:33). Life brings challenges and difficulties, and like someone once said, ‘Right thinking ushers in right planning. And right planning ushers in right actions.’
For you to have a great year, you must put in a shift, in partnership with God. It is not the time to fold hands and say, ‘que sera sera’ (what will be will be). It is time to work with God and present to him something to bless. The Bible says God will bless the work of our hands (Deut. 28:12), so if we don’t have anything doing, what will God bless? Here is one key thing to do this early in the New Year: Forget the difficulties of 2020, see 2021 as an opportunity to reset and get things right.
In 2020, maybe you were looking for a spouse, or a new job, a baby; write a book, or have a change of career. But for various reasons, you were not able to accomplish these goals. Or maybe your health was flagging. Maybe you got some things wrong in 2020. Maybe your goals were not actionable. Maybe they were too ambitious. Things might not have lined up for you not because you did something wrong. Sometimes life deals us a wrong hand. But remember what Apostle Paul said: ‘Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead (Phil. 3:13).
Thank God you still have the breath of God inside of you. These setbacks are not enough to keep you stuck in 2020 mode for the rest of your life. Do not allow challenges of yesterday to destroy the peace of today and progress of tomorrow. Make a firm decision to move on from these disappointments. Something becomes a failure only when you fail to try and try again. This is a brand new year with brand new blessings, an opportunity to reset and get things right.
Have a great week and a good year ahead!
Kingdom Dynamics, a weekly column is written by Dr. Babatunde Olugboji, the President, Kingdom House, a non-profit organization in New Jersey, USA.
