​Embracing the Blessings, Burdens, and Blahs

A new year is the closest thing to true magic. On the eve of a new year, I feel like Anne of Green Gables believing that ​

“Tomorrow is always fresh with no mistakes in it.”

​Of course, I know I’m going to ruin that clean slate after a few steps into it, but for some reason, that doesn’t lessen my anticipation.

I have many New Year’s resolutions for 2021, but whether or not I achieve them all, I know that 2021 can be better. I’m not saying that because 2020 is the year no one ever wants to relive. I’m saying that because 2021 isn’t going to magically erase the darkness of 2020.

If anything, that darkness of disease and turmoil may increase. But I believe 2021 can be better.

​Recently, a speaker at my church opened up Ecclesiastes chapter three and proceeded to tell us what this year will hold. He said that 2021 will have its burdens. Solomon tells us in this chapter that while there is a time to get, there will be a time to lose, and while there is a time to laugh, there will be a time to weep. Where blessings exist, there will be burdens.
 
But there is hopeful news. The speaker’s second point was that 2021 will have its blessings. Blessings and burdens are two sides to the same coin. If we are to enjoy God’s blessings in the new year, we have to be willing to accept the burdens this new season of life brings.

So, though 2021 will have burdens, we can be hopeful. And since 2021 has its blessings, we can be grateful. While these two points encouraged my heart, our speaker’s third point really made me see my spiritual walk in 2021 in a whole new light. 2021 will have its blahs.

Well, that seems…obvious. But the more I thought about it, the more profound it seemed. We tend to remember the more “pertinent” phrases of Ecclesiastes 3:​

• “A time to be born, and a time to die” (3:2)
• “A time to love, and a time to hate” (3:8)
• “A time to kill, and a time to heal” (3:3)

But stuck in between the bigger aspects of life are lots of little phrases that tell us a lot about the day-in-day-out dredge of ordinary life:

• “A time to break down, and a time to build up” (3:3)
• “A time to keep, and a time to cast away” (3:6)
• “A time to rend, and a time to sew” (3:7)

Our speaker insisted that

“It’s the blahs that create the greatest sense of disappointment in our year. Not the burdens.”

When I thought about my past years this way, I understood something about myself. I can trust God with my financial burdens and health concerns. I can pray and leave to Him the unknown future of my country and my family. But getting to the end of a long week and realizing that all I’ve accomplished are tasks that I have to do all over again next week really gets to me.

​Think about it. Most of the tasks we do and the time we spend on a daily basis don’t have much eternal value. We wash the dishes, brush our teeth, walk our dogs, maintain our cars, and fold the laundry. We clock in and out of work, change the lightbulbs when they burn out, and order cleaning supplies off of Amazon because we don’t have time to run to the store before we’re out.

2021 will be filled with boring, seemingly inconsequential moments like these. We will spend more time pumping gas, taking showers, and using the bathroom then we will going to church, reading the Word, and ministering to our communities. That’s just the way human life works.

Everything about our lives requires menial maintenance—from our cars to our bodies.
 
Yet, everything in life, be it tragic, wonderful, or boring, is an opportunity God allows in our lives. Everything is an opportunity.

How are burdens opportunities?

• A car breaking down is an opportunity to trust our Sovereign Provider.
• A frustration at work is an opportunity to show the love of Christ.
• A loss can open doors to share Scripture with others who are hurting in the same way.

If you are willing to accept the burdens God allows in 2021, you may see them turn into blessings:

• Your trust in God might grant you a safer car or an opportunity to witness.
• Your loving response might result in a soul saved or questions about your testimony.
• Your willingness to share Scripture might result in souls saved and turn grief into hope.

So, if burdens are opportunities to be hopeful and blessings are opportunities to be grateful, why does God give us blahs? The blahs in our lives gives us the opportunity to be faithful.
 
When we’re tired from work, driving, scheduling doctor’s appointments, and cleaning, we can still choose to be faithful to read God’s Word, talk to Him, and share His salvation with our neighbors. That’s the true struggle of the Christian life—not going to church, tithing, or trusting him with our money, health, and happiness—but having the spiritual fortitude and faith to act like His child while we’re carrying out the tedious aspects of life.

• While we clean we can either grumble or sing His praise.
• While we work we can either do what we have to do to get paid or do our best because our testimony reflects on our God.
• While we fold the laundry, we can either harbor bitterness at the family members who aren’t helping or offer thanksgiving to God for giving us the people in our household that make all of that laundry.

These are the opportunities that the Blahs of 2021 will give us. Every moment gives us a choice. 2021 can be better if we choose God over ourselves moment by moment, taking the opportunities He gives us to shine our lights ever brighter in the growing darkness.

How will you, in the moment-to-moment mundane of life, make intentional choices to choose God over self in 2021?