Hope for the New Year

The casual observer might be fooled into thinking that the picture above is simply of a Fitbit. In fact I think most people would assume this to be the case, but I know the truth about this particular Fitbit; I know it to be a tangible symbol of God's great kindness.

I've had my mind on buying a Fitbit for a couple of months now, but I've only had concrete plans to get one for all of one day. Just this morning, I announced to my mother and brother as they were making breakfast in the kitchen that I was going to get one at the end of February, once I had finished work for the summer.

I planned to continue with my running for the first couple months of the new year and then fork out the cash for a Fitbit after a couple of months as a sort of reward, and as a way to track my continual fitness progress.

But I failed to take one thing into account as I made my plans this morning: God hears all our conversations.

I went about my morning lazily, watching episodes of Sherlock and hanging the laundry on the line. I took a brief nap in the afternoon and stumbled out of my room to the sound of the phone ringing in the background. A few moments later my mum passed it to me saying my dad was on the line.

"Are you looking for a Fitbit?"

"Yeah, I am ... ???"

"I'm at a garage sale and I've just found one for $20."

Friends, the Fitbit was in near-perfect condition and cost approximately 1/12th of what I was planning to spend on a new one.

Needless to say my dad bought it and as I strapped it to my wrist later that day, I marvelled.

How gracious is our God?

I would never have thought to pray about getting a Fitbit. I mean, what a ridiculous thing to pray about, right?

No, instead, I was planning on saving up my money, in my time so as not to bother God with such a trivial little thing.

What you see there, friends, is self-sufficiency disguised as humility.

In turning my own plans upside down God was both showing me His great kindness and rebuking me.

Who am I to decide what I should and shouldn't bother God with? Perhaps part of the problem lies in the phrasing of that question; it implies that God is bothered by our concerns.

What I'm learning today is that no concern or even desire is too small to set before our Heavenly Father. In fact, I think he delights in our bringing even the smallest thing before Him. It shows that we are truly His children; that we know His character and trust Him enough to go to Him for all our earthly wants and needs.

Will the answer always be 'yes'? Of course not. Like any good parent, God knows when to say 'no' to us.

But does he delight in giving us good gifts - both physical and spiritual - when they are to our benefit and can be enjoyed for His glory? Of course He does!

God knew exactly what I needed today. More than the actual Fitbit itself, I needed the encouragement and the rebuke that came with it.

Friends, I am taking heart this New Year's Eve. Our God sees everything and wants us to trust Him even with the minutiae of our lives.

I plan to lean in hard this coming year, and pray that you will, too.

Happy 2017, friends. May every minute of the coming year be lived for His glory.