Don’t you wish you could see all that 2024 holds for you? I know I can look back over my life and see all the things I did not see coming, at the time. I have perfect rear looking 20/20 vision. I would have made different choices in some cases, had I known ahead of time what the outcome would be.
Well, there is someone who knows the end from the beginning. That person is God. The Holy Spirit in us knows everything. Nothing surprises Him. Jesus described Him as the comforter: John 14:26(ASV) “But the Comforter, even the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said unto you.” The job of the Holy Spirit is to lead and guide us. He also makes intercession for us as we do not know how we should pray. (Romans 8:26-27). He is the one who makes us a new creation. He transforms us to be more like Jesus.
When we enlist the aid of the Holy Spirit in our decision making, He leads us down the right path. When I was first born again, I was very self-willed. I had faith to believe that God heard my prayers, but I was not confident that God would always make the best decisions for me. As a result, I would often pray against the revealed will of God. I found out that if I begged God long enough, He would grant my requests in His “permissive” will. His permissive will is not His “perfect” will. He grants things in His permissive will as it is our heart’s desire. Many times, I would come to see clearly why He had said no to me before. Today, I try to enlist the guidance of the Lord in as much of my decision making as possible.
I ask the Holy Spirit to help me to cook. He has given me new recipes that I never thought of before. He keeps me from burning things. There is a Christmas fruit cake that I make around the Holidays. I do not have an exact recipe for the cake, and it is very labor intensive. Every time I make the cake it seems to turn out differently. I am very critical of my cooking, so I will often make several cakes, changing the recipe slightly. Yet, it seems that everyone that I give the cakes to say how great they taste. My daughter gave it to a friend and she told her that I have blessed hands.
Once we submit our will to the will of God, it is God’s job to reveal His will to us. Sometimes it may be that you have peace, indicating you are going in the right direction. God has various ways of revealing what His will is for us. I have on occasion had random people speak to me regarding a major decision, I am waiting to hear from God about. The Holy Spirit also speaks to us in an inner voice. I have had detailed messages spoken to me by the Holy Spirit.
If you will put God and His will for you first in 2024, He will make sure that you have a blessed year.