Yesterday, we celebrated our 2024 victories with God. Today, let’s look back at the hard places. This might be a difficult situation you encountered that was painful to walk through. The circumstance may have been unavoidable, but what was your reaction or response to it? Or there may be areas of struggle where you feel you made no progress or outright failed. There may have been conflict in a relationship that didn’t go well. Our responses to these are as varied as the circumstances themselves. It’s so vital to evaluate them with the Lord’s help. Most of the time, when I find myself disappointed with how I handled a situation, the root of it goes back to my speaking/acting on my own without surrendering to (or even taking time to seek) the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
There is no shame with God. “Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” Hebrews 4:16 Spend some time today receiving God’s forgiveness and comfort for your 2024 struggles. You may need to forgive yourself. You may need to release someone that you’ve been holding anger towards. Whatever the need, God is faithful to help you do it. Then, celebrate 2024 as a year of drawing closer to God.