As we come to the close of another year, I have been thinking about how often we talk about leaving a job, a role, or an environment better than we found it. We care about improving the spaces we touch. We care about lifting what is around us. But I started asking myself a different question.
What about me? Am I leaving this year better than I came into it?
That question has been sitting with me, not in a heavy way, but in a hopeful way.
And I want to ask you the same.
Are you leaving this year better than you came into it?
Because many of us are carrying ideas, assignments, and callings from God that we have not yet fully stepped into. We know what the Lord has spoken. We know the direction He is leading. Yet we place time limits on ourselves. We create expectations that serve other people’s opinions rather than God’s instructions.
God is not asking for perfection. He is asking for obedience. He is inviting us to keep Him first and to walk with Him as we do what He has placed in our hands.
The Things of God Are Done with God
This is what keeps rising in my spirit.
The things of God are done with God.
Not in our own strength. Not in anxiety. Not in people pleasing. Not in comparison.
With Him.
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding; think about Him in all your ways, and He will guide you on the right paths. -Proverbs 3:5-6 HCSB
When we slow down long enough to acknowledge Him in all our ways, we begin to understand what that verse truly means. It is more than a memory verse. It is a way of living. It is remembering that it is God who gives us breath, God who gives us desire, and God who completes the work He began in us.
He is the One who prepared the good works beforehand so that we could walk in them. Not sprint. Not struggle. Walk. And as we walk with Him, He shapes our character, strengthens our trust, and renews our mind so we can walk into what He promised.
Believe the Report of the Lord
This year may not have looked like what you expected. You may feel like you are still in the wilderness, looking for signs of progress. You may feel like your idea is too big or your resources are too small. You may wonder whether you misheard God or waited too long.
But the Lord reminds us to believe His report, not the report of our circumstances.
If He said the book will be written, so shall it be.
If He said your business will serve women well, so shall it be.
If He said the opportunity is yours, so shall it be.
If He said you will walk in a new season, so shall it be.
God does not lie.
Let This Be the Year You Leave Better
As you look toward the new year, consider this.
You do not have to cross a finish line to be better.
You need to keep walking with God.
Better is not perfection.
Better is obedience.
Better is surrender.
Better is letting the Lord shape your heart, your pace, and your perspective.
You are not going to leave this year the same way you entered it. You are going to leave with deeper trust, clearer focus, stronger faith, and a renewed willingness to do the things God has placed in your hands. You are going to leave aligned with Him and prepared for what is ahead.
Because the things of God are done with God. And when you walk with Him, you walk toward the Promised Land, even when your scenery still looks like the wilderness.
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