How to Guarantee Increase for the New Year

Over the last month, as last year came to an end, we have been preparing for the new year. We reviewed what happened, we reflected on the good (most of what we saw), the bad (not much to talk about here) and the ugly. We looked ahead and we asked the Lord what He had to say about it all.

As I look around and hear what people are talking and posting about, I see that we are all in the same season. It’s a new year! It’s what we do at this time of year. And I’m all for it. There are plenty of scriptures that talk about remembering.

Remember the former things of old,

For I am God, and there is no other;

I am God, and there is none like Me. Isaiah 46:9

I remember the days of old;

I mediate on all Your works;

I muse on the work of Your hands. Psalm 143:5

And there are plenty of scriptures that talk about preparing:

“Let your waist be girded and your lamps burning;

And you yourselves be like men who wait for their master,

when he will return from the wedding, that when he comes and knocks

they may open to him immediately.” Luke 12:35-36

All the activity is a great way to prepare for the new adventures that the new year holds. 

But there is something that is making me nervous amongst all of this preparation: I think we may have forgotten that we can’t force God to do what we want Him to do just because of our preparation.

Breakthrough doesn’t come because we jump through our usual new year hoops. Preparing ourselves, looking back and assessing and then setting new goals for the year ahead is helpful, but it is not what ‘makes’ God move.

So, what does make God move?

I believe as we seek to prepare ourselves for the new year, we must remember that it is also about positioning ourselves for God to move. As I am watching people hustle and jump through their hoops of writing plans, adjusting schedules, and making new resolutions, I am concerned that we are forgetting the main thing which is our connection with the Lord.

“Not me,” I hear you say. “I’m fasting and attending the church prayer meetings. I’m working through a bible study designed to help me get ready for the year ahead.” Wonderful! I’m doing the same. But I’m aware that I can do all the ‘things’ and still miss the still small voice calling me away with Him. I’m aware of my tendency to get excited about changing things to make way for a new year and then struggling to maintain that new momentum because I’m trying to do it all on my own. 

The year ahead holds so much promise. It’s pregnant with good things that the Lord has in store. And I feel the call to ‘up my game.’ I’m adjusting my schedule to be more disciplined and more committed to some of the projects that have been in my heart for years. I’m setting things in place around our home so that we can respond to the Lord and move quickly where He leads. We are getting more and more disciplined, and holding each other accountable to following through on projects and the use of our time. It’s a season where I hear Him saying, “Come up higher.” I feel the discomfort of growth and change, yet the invitations that He is extending are amazing. But in all the opportunities and exciting things that I believe He is about to do, I can feel overwhelmed if I think it all relies on the back of my enhanced schedules and disciplines.

Humility and Surrender Attract God

If the move of God in my life and in the lives of those around me is dependent only on my determination and tenacity, then Heaven help us all! I’m a very determined and disciplined person, but I can’t just discipline my way into a greater measure of the presence and power of God. That only comes when I humble myself and lay my life on the altar again and again. It comes when I live in such a way that I’m aware of my need for Him to show up beyond my need to have my schedule dialed in.

Go Deeper to Go Higher

Don’t get me wrong. I believe in the New Year fast. I believe in adjusting our schedules to reflect the new priorities and projects that are before us. But even more than that, especially in this season of tremendous promise as He is calling me higher, I know that He is also calling me lower, to a place of greater humility and dependance, to a place where I realize again that I am totally reliant on Him.

So, carry on with your great preparations for the new year, rewrite your schedules, set your goals and make new plans. But also, humble yourself and realize the unless the Lord builds the house the laborers build in vain (see Psalm 127:1). Let go of your need for control and your desire for comfort and lay your life afresh on the altar, in the place of dependence on Him and position yourself to receive from Him what only He can do.

NEXT STEPS:

1. Make your plans AND

2. Let go of control, surrender your life afresh to God

3. Don't do this alone! Join us at upcoming conference or event near you. See Heaveninbusiness.com/events

And may God, who opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble, pour out favor and blessing and increase on you such that that you cannot contain it!