Stephanie A. Anderson

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2020 and Beyond!

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Well, as you may have noticed I didn’t come sprinting out of 2019 into 2020 with some fabulous new blog series. However I have been talking with the Holy Spirit since November thinking about the new year and the new decade ahead. 

We’ve been in constant communication about this one word: preparation. Not many people are talking about the next decade, but the few who are all have something in common. They are all overseeing businesses, healthy (grown) families, hard working, visionaries, higher level thinkers and disciple-makers. It’s an interesting observation, right?

Ya know, maybe what we expect of ourselves and our goals has something to do with what we expect from God and his purpose for our lives. Perhaps there is a link there, anyways to be honest my last decade was mostly a normal one:

I was apart of a church plant.

I got graduated from college.

I got married.

We bought a house.

We had two kids. 

We moved states.

We bought a second house. 

I went live with my blog. 

I published my first book.

We are still married.

We are still raising our kids.

Lots of normal things in there, some incredible God things happened too, but the heart of what happened has shaped me for the next decade in front of me. 

Since November, I have been asking the Holy Spirit what’s next? To be honest I have been gun-shy about this new year, the last few years hurt and 2019 was quite the growth spurt. In addition to that, every time I asked the Lord what does 2020 have in store, I kept getting an unsettling feeling. So I started to ask him, what should my focus be for 2020.

He led me again to discover the Word as my guide. When we leave a very long season, we will find the Lord at the end carrying us, providing for us, and winning the battles we have assigned to us. This is the same condition we see the Children of Israel in after they had left Egypt and passed through the Red Sea. Just before they entered into a new season of taking over the promised land a few things happened that helped me create a list of things to do to prepare for what is next—

How to prepare for something you can’t see:

1 - The Children of Israel got organized and recognized authority.

Moses’ father in law said “Hey you can’t rule this many people by yourself. This is too much for you.” (Exodus 18) When we have our priorities organized and live by them, we have authority in Jesus Christ because he has ultimate authority in our lives.

My order of priorities looks like this:

God

Myself

My Spouse

My Children

Work

Here are some of the tools that help me steward these priorities well:

Having a calendar/schedule (Sharing my calendar with my spouse)

Finances: Learning how to budget and sticking to that budget

Learning to tame my tongue (no drama, exaggerations, or lies)

Guarding my thoughts 

Smiling

Taking care of my body (exercise, drink water, reduce sugar or sodium… pick something!)

Devotional time: Word consumption, Prayer, and Worship

What can you do to get organized?

What authority must you submit to for thorough organization to happen?

2 - The Children of Israel set themselves apart.

They consecrated themselves and washed their clothes. (Exodus 19) It is so important that we choose to do what God wants us to do and that we carefully consider what God allows us to do, because of how it can effect others.

I firmly believe how we steward the priorities and responsibilities in our life will set us apart from others. Purity and integrity are what highlight the efficiency and excellence of a Christian, because everyone is an expert these days.

What can you do for God starting right where you are?

How can you take better care of what you have?

3 - Moses believed the Lord and saw His glory.

When the Children of Israel got scared and didn’t go up to the Mountain where God had invited them, a boundary was created. Fear was not allowed in the presence of Holiness. When the boundary was created anyone who tried to see God would die. But Moses! Moses believed the Lord and stepped into an incredible experience! (Exodus 19 & 20)

Our sins keep us from receiving all that God has for us. Luckily for us, we aren’t living in the Old Testament and we have Jesus who has died for our sins and risen from the dead proving He has all power and authority, even over death! We also have the Holy Spirit who is our guide. Let’s be honest and bring our fears before the Holy Spirit and allow him into the areas of our lives that we worry about. I want to be like Moses and get closer and closer to God these next ten years.

In order to do this, we have to change our minds. We have to “renew” our minds. (Rom 12:2) It’s so important that we do this hard work. Living Christlike requires clear thinking. It’s hard to run after a dream or pursue a healthy life when we are carrying the weight of worry, doubt, and conflicting thoughts in our minds.

What can you do to create clear (mental) boundaries?

What will you stop thinking about?

What thoughts will you no longer accept or dwell on?

4 - Moses went up the mountain and received God’s instruction. (The Ten Commandments, Exodus 20+)

Moving into the next year, we need to know what to do. We must ask “What does God expect of me?” There are some things that we already know and if we are honest, these are hard enough and we don’t need special projects or another movement.

Let’s start with reading and studying the Word. We need to worship God how He wants to be worshiped. We must pray every day, engage with our church family, serve that church and commit to sharing the Gospel. We must act like men and women of God, not people who are “trying” to be men and women of God.

What should you add to your calendar that a man or woman of God has on their calendar?

What should you be doing that you can start taking baby steps towards?

5 - Finally, when the Children of Israel experienced God’s wrath for creating a golden calf, they were disciplined and repented. (Exodus 32)

We know we’ll biff it in this next year and when that happens we need to look at what adjustments need to be made in our life with a heart to honor God and accept the growing character of Christ in us.

What safeguards should be put in place now?

Who should we talk to so the we aren’t repeat mistakes again?

I know this sounds like a lot to consider. I acknowledge it will take the entire 2020 and beyond to have some of these new rhythms in our life. Thankfully we don’t have to be perfect, but in everything reaching to be more like Christ and to love him and know him more.

Let’s do our best to be prepared for what’s next:

Be organized.

Start where we are.

Have clear boundaries.

What does a man or woman of God act like? Do that!!!

Keep going!

In all things we must remember the Lord is with us. Be strong, have good courage and move forward into the new season God has planned for us. Let’s join Him there. He has been waiting for us.

If you could add one more thing to this list of preparation for the unknown what would it be? Comment below I’d love to dialogue with you about it! - SA