So I was Just walking along theHammersmith Road in London.
The air was kind of arctic in consistency.
It bit me hard.
The pavement was packed so full that I had to weave in and out just to stay upright.
But I hardly noticed.
My head was showing a kind of cinematic video of the year ahead of me.
2014.
I felt a warm bolt of excitement pass through my body.
2013 had brought challenges beyond human understanding. I had gone through things that no one should have to go through. I had gone through things that had set me back in my life progress a little. I'd been let down by people who should have supported us. We endured a sustained attack on our ministry. In the midst of all of that we moved 287 miles South from the North East to London. We arrived at an appointment that didn't really set my heart on fire. We moved house, changed car, changed appointment. It was a testing year in many ways. A year that on more than one occasion I felt like just packing my bags up, getting out of the Salvation Army and going home to the city I love the most! Liverpool.
Yet.
There is treasure out of the difficult year we have had.
Even though I couldn't see any good coming out of probably one of the most difficult years I've endured in a long time, certain things have definitely happened.
I'm stronger.
I'm clearer.
I'm better equipped.
We have a big year ahead.
As we try to join Jesus in building a fresh Salvation Army in West London.
But last year, as bad as it was, has actually prepared me for the road ahead.
I've been refined in the fire.
I've been strengthened in areas that were lacking and wouldn't have helped us in this task.
God has added a dimension to my ministry that will only help.
The task ahead, if Dawn and I look at it right now with human eyes, seems pretty bleak. There is a fog ahead.
But.
Through Spiritual eyes, and having been refined in a raging fire, then coming out the other side stronger, fitter and equipped, I know there is hope.
And I see a future beyond the fog.
I see an Army.
Built from the ashes of hopelessness.
I see it.
For Christmas I have had a new phone.
It took me all day on Boxing Day to reconfigure all my accounts and calendars, apps and widgets.
Reconfiguration.
I guess that's what has happened to me.
I've been reconfigured.
I've been reset.
And.
I'm ready for the road ahead this coming year.
I'm ready and raring to go.
A new year.
A new start.
Reconfigured.
And I guess for anyone struggling with what life throws at us. It is hard to see that there can be any good to come from it. I know, I've been there believe me. But maybe, just maybe you are being reconfigured. Maybe God is tuning you in to something special, preparing you for the road ahead. Maybe you are being strengthened. I feel like I've been given a gift of resolve this year, and really am better equipped than I've ever been for the task that lies ahead. I challenge you to look for the treasure that God is extracting from the situation you are in. Look for the resolve he is loading you up with. Look for the spiritual equipment he is arming you with for whatever the future holds.
Whatever happens try and see that Jesus is at work in your life and will always be.
Have a blessed 2014.
Gaz.
