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Entering a new year did not suddenly make the circumstances of last year disappear. Many hope that this year will be better than last. No one can know for sure, except God.

Trusting that this is all part of His plan – the good, the bad, and the ugly – is the best way we can move forward from the things that have happened. Knowing that His plan is better than ours is a lesson we all must learn to find true peace and rest. When we start to take matters into our own hands, we get off His plan and stray further away from Him.

“Therefore, Jesus answered and was saying to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is what He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner.””           - John 5:19

Not only is what we do important, but how we do it; we must follow God’s directions carefully. Jesus led by example. Everything He did was done because God told Him to do it and done how God told Him to do it. Jesus is the ultimate example for what we should do and how we should do it!

Thankfully, the Lord also gave us examples of those that did not follow His instruction – Jonah, David, many more. These men all did things that the Lord did not tell them to do, or in a different way than the Lord said. Many came to the realization that they had done wrong; they repented, asked for forgiveness, and accepted their punishment. Even though they did wrong, their example shows what we should do if we veer off God’s plan and direction.

God doesn’t expect us to be perfect. He just wants us to come to Him on our faces, with repentance, filled with love, declaring Him as our Lord, ready to do as He commands. And He wants us to do this repeatedly – receiving His abundant love and grace, increasing our faith in Him, learning more about Him.