New Year, New Possibilities

Happy New Year! The calendar has reset itself. We have a new set of 365 days. It’s like first down in football; we have a new set of downs. The metaphors and expressions for a new year are infinite. But what rings loudest is the word NEW. The word needs no definition. Though small in stature possessing only three letters, it looms large with its capacity. Every person alive has appreciation for the word new. We have new experiences, buy new things, make new friends, enter new seasons, start new lives, etc. You made it through last year. The apostle Paul says, “Forgetting what is behind, and straining toward what is ahead…” We’ve crossed the threshold into a new year and if you’re like me, you’ve spent some time thinking about your hopes, plans, and dreams for a new set of 365 days.

Every year I view a new year like a blank canvas. Initially I’m paralyzed because of the enormity of the potential, but eventually it is the infiniteness that I embrace. Upon the establishment of His covenant with Abram, God took him outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars – if indeed you can count them.” God was presenting to Abram a blank canvas for his life. It took moving him outside of his confined space and drawing his gaze up toward an open heaven for him to see the infinite possibilities. Of course it sounds ridiculous to count the stars in the sky and that was the point. Just to give you some reference, I took the time to get a real number for you. On a clear night, you can see about 6,000 stars in the sky, but that’s only a small fraction of the total number of stars in the universe. Astronomers estimate that the Milky Way galaxy contains about 100 billion stars! Yes, billion with a B! That’s counting high on multiple levels. Have you tried standing, looking up, and counting? I know I would get tired before reaching 60 let alone 6,000.

God called Abram out under an open heaven that he might see what his potential was. I have embraced this brief narrative for my own life this year and I encourage you to do the same. At this new year, we stand under an open heaven engaging in the ludicrous activity of counting stars. Ludicrous only because it’s an impossible task to complete. But more importantly it speaks to the impossibility of us accounting for God’s infinite possibilities. You’ve celebrated dozens of new years in your lifetime and God’s potential for you is just as infinite this year as it was for Abram four thousand years ago. New has no age limit or expiration date. Under an open heaven God can do anything. That means God can do anything for, with, and through you. It’s a good year to be alive, so why not live! I encourage you to be like Abram and step outside of your apartment, look up, and start counting.  Happy New Year! Happy New Year!