Preparing for the end of 2023, I’m getting my ducks in rows for Christmas and reviewing my past year-end posts and Deep Thoughts. 2023’s “word of the year” was transformation. 2023 has definitely been transformative. 

Where do I find myself, at the end of all this transformation? Struggling to walk forward instead of back. And that, my dear friends, is what “preparing for the end” is all about. It’s about sitting down and looking back and getting a mirror and looking at where you are – really are. 

Well. Transformation. Yeah. Yep. That we got. Lots of medical stuff, with which I will not bore you. More interestingly, I have been transformed into someone who is ready to step up and step out. Dude. I have been in the back seat, politely crocheting, for years. Taking direction and keeping my mouth shut. Sometimes that’s the way of things, when you choose to be in submission. 

And the call, especially in the last few months is, “Step up. Now is the time”. Speak up at work. You know all those ideas it “wasn’t your place” to put forward? Do it. Step forward in your ministry and take the authority given to you. It was given, you didn’t grab. So, do it. Step up and be proactive about getting followers online. Do the thing. Say the thing. Don’t do it “their way” but DO IT.

But don’t do it a la 2019, when your schedule was all about “what can I make happen” and rest was a four letter word – because leaning on yourself is a thing of the past. Just stand up and find out what God will do with your willingness. Planning, that might be a strength in your flesh — but you’re not operating in your flesh, so tie it up with a bow and put it on a shelf (for now). 

I didn’t know this about transformation – you have to accept it. You have to embrace it. You have to allow it. The butterfly has to fly… she can’t just crawl around on the stem. I mean, she can… but she’s not a butterfly until she FLIES. And that’s the last piece of the puzzle. Actually flying.

That’s what my mirror is showing me – it’s time to fly. 

As you prepare for 2024, I urge you to get a mirror. Look at where you are, who you are, and what has happened to you in this last year or two or four.

Preparing for the end starts with gathering up the things around you and putting them into order. What do you see? What is truly in your hands?

To begin a new journey, you should probably know where you’re starting from.