Happy Day-After-My-Birthday!
One of my co-workers gave me some advice that has benefitted my life ever since. I was probably complaining about some mis-treatment I had received, and he advised:
“Never expect someone to live up to YOUR expectations.” In other words, we should not expect others to treat us as we would them. And I hope that this statement helps at least one reader on this email list.
Which brings me to my thought for today. I’ve noticed that one of the common themes for the New Year celebrations is that almost everyone is glad that the old year is over. Why is that? Each year has it’s positive points and negative ones, but I fear we too often accentuate the negative. And so we always hope that the new year will be better.
What is it about humans that we dwell on disappointments? Growing up, I knew that the one person I didn’t want to disappoint was my Grandma Myers. I loved her dearly, and I can still see her, when I came around the corner in her house, with the King James Bible open on her lap. But on a few occasions she used a word (that my siblings claim to have never heard, so I guess I was the bad seed!), that I was doing something that ‘perturbed’ her. And whatever I was doing, I stopped. Immediately.
Another One we don’t want to disappoint is God the Father. Every time we sin, we disappoint Him. But He will always forgive us:
“If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” [I John 1:8-9]
Yes, we at times may disappoint God, but He will never disappoint us:
“…those who hope in me will not be disappointed.” [Isaiah 49:23f]
So in 2026, instead of dwelling on our disappointments, let’s dwell on our God Appointments’, those times when God puts us in a position to say a word or do a deed that will help somebody and also further His kingdom. Then perhaps we can look back at the end of 2026 to see and appreciate how God has worked in our lives. But only if we focused on our God Appointments, and not on our disappointments.
Happy New Year!
Keith