As I sit at my home computer early this Monday morning to write this Christmas is only four days away and after that the end of 2008. God has done so much this past year. It was a year of blessings and trials for each of us. I want to glance back over the past year and express gratitude for the faithfulness of God but I also want to gaze into the future prospects of 2009 and all the things the Lord wants me to trust Him for.
2008 was a busy year in the Edwards household. We now have all four boys in school. Brenda continues to teach women’s Bible studies and little girls about missions. She has been and continues to be a partner in ministry which was our dream when we began dating in college. God has honored our desires to make our marriage about Jesus and being available to Him. She was a trooper this past Friday as she sat next to me for five hours this past Friday at a book signing taking care of all the money while I talked to people and signed dozens and dozens of books. I had the privilege of preaching in Canada again this past summer as well as in New Mexico and all over the state of Texas. I am most excited about the way the Lord continues to bless FBC Paradise and the fact that the Lord blessed us with some new land to accommodate the growth we have seen. After many years of prayer, writing and revising, our long awaited dream of publishing our latest book has finally come true. God also opened up two other venues for my writing ministry with this blog and a weekly article in our local newspaper. The highlight of the year was getting to lead my 10 year old son, Tanner, to the Lord after preaching to a group of students. I wrote about this in a previous blog. 2008 was a great year.
What about 2009? There are so many uncertainties. We have a new president and a faltering economy. The Lord has set prayer challenges for me and FBC Paradise that surpass anything that I have ever had to believe the Lord for in the past. The dreams burning in my gut are growing larger and through prayer I will see them birthed into reality. 2009 is another year in which God will rule in sovereignty no matter what comes our way. He will be faithful in times of tragedy whether they are nationally or personally. He will be faithful to attend to new births as well as to minister comfort when loved ones die. He will not falter under the heavy load of our burdens and needs but will continually show Himself faithful over and over again. He will be faithful to lavish grace on the lost sinners as well as provision for those in need of shelter, food, clothing, and work.
Each year the Lord gives me a theme for the year to pray for. The theme I trusted God for last year was “unprecedented growth.” That had more to do with the growth of individual believers more than numerical growth in our church. I am not clear on the theme this year but I believe it will have something to do with faith. I know for many of you 2008 was a hard year and you are ready to see it fade into the pages of history hoping for better prospects in 2009. You have endured and clinging to the hope that you will finally get to see your dreams and desires come to fruition in 2009. Is this foolish thinking chasing after the wind or can we really gaze into the future of this New Year believing God for greater things?
Dreams delayed can at times seem tortuous. While the dream burns deep within circumstances can scream at us that our dreaming and believing are all in vain. If we give in to these voices we will be tempted to give up. As you gaze into 2009 the one thing I would urge each of us to do is not give up. [Gal 6:9] [Ps 27:13-14] How we need a faith that is able to endure the longest seasons of waiting on the Lord and the howling winds of our most severe trials. [James 1:1-9] We must believe the Lord and cling to His promises with all our might. [Luke 18:1] Sometimes the waiting can seem like it will never end and we may even come to the point when we cannot find another prayer to pray or even mustard seed like faith. God will show Himself faithful in these times as well. He gives strength to the weak and helps our unbelief.
Regardless of where you are on your journey with the Lord in this life I am exhorting you to forget about the past. If 2008 was not a good year I am urging you to shake it off and believe God for a better 2009. If you are tired and weary of dreaming but never getting to taste your dream and you feel like a horse chasing a carrot dangling over your head but you never get it, please look at my life. The years 2002-2005 were some very trying and difficult years. Tears, anguish, brokenness, and trials were my bedfellows. I watched as all my ministry dreams burned up right before my eyes. Now at the end of 2008 I can assure you God has resurrected those dreams and brought beauty from their ashes. [Is 61:1-3] He has allowed me to see fruit from my praying and labors and I have actually held some of my dreams in my hand (see the blog on “Holding a Dream.”) If the Lord can do that for me He can do that for anyone reading this.
You are going to have to pick yourself up and crack open your Bibles and believe what God has put in your heart to see with spiritual eyes rather than what you see with your physical eyes. [Heb 11:1] You are a child of destiny and He has purposes for you and plans for you in 2009. Do not throw in the towel based on what you experienced in 2008. Continue to believe and possess the land of all God has intended for you. That was the theme I believed the Lord for in 2005. I refused to live in self pity or doubt in 2005 as the Lord led me to Deut 1:8. I started 2005 praying that God would help Brenda and I possess the land of our destiny. It was at that point that I believed God would make the dreams He had planted in my heart come true. They did as He led us to Paradise, TX.
For some of you 2008 was a banner year and you might be tempted to coast into 2009 resting on your laurels from the past year. I would remind you of [Col 3:23]. God wants our best efforts and no matter how successful you were this past year I would challenge you to believe God for even more this upcoming year. That is exactly my intention. There is more ground to be conquered and more of God’s Kingdom to be advanced and expanded.
I thoroughly enjoyed 2008. It was a great year for my family. Though it was busy year many treasured memories were built. It was also a year where the Lord really challenged me to trust Him for more than I had at any other point in my life and ministry. As I stand on the edge of 2009 gazing into the distance, the one thing I am sure of is that God will show Himself faithful on all our behalves. By faith I intend to trust and believe God for everything He wants me to possess. That will include more growth at FBC Paradise, more blogs, at least two more books completed and released by the end of the year and relocating our church without going into debt to build new facilities along with preaching youth camps and retreats.
I have been reading a great book from author and Bible teacher Chip Ingram entitled From Good to Great in God’s Eyes. I just finished a chapter on dreaming great dreams and was deeply inspired as I finished it. I found myself offering this prayer before the Lord. “Lord, if you have some great dream you are looking to plant in someone’s heart to believe you for, if you have some need in this world that is not being met and you need to plant a vision and issue a call to meet that need, I am available. I will believe you for anything you call me to and I will follow you anywhere you lead. In Jesus name Amen.” That is my prayer for each of you as well as you gaze into 2009. There are things God is calling you to believe for Him for. Gird up the loins of your faith and tenacity and do not be denied as you live out the destiny He created you for. Maybe our paths will cross along the way this year on our way to the fulfillment of God’s dreams and visions for our lives. So long 2008 and look out 2009 for here we come charging full speed on the stallions of our confidence in God and His unfailing word.
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