Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself, on the earth”; and it was so. – Genesis 1:11

Happy New Year!  It is January 2nd, the day after many people resolve to change.  It’s also the first day many resolutions have already been broken.    My resolution to get up early, while it is still dark, to pray and write God’s Word?  Well, um, does getting out of bed at 8:00 am count?  I’m guessing not.

But I meant well.

“I meant well.”   Oh how many times have I not only said these words but heard them spoken as well.  I meant well when I said that.  I meant well when I did that.   Many people “mean well” when they say and do things.   We mean well when we vow to change eating habits, exercise habits, Bible study habits, relationship habits.   We truly do want to change for the better.  Yet change in and of ourselves only leaves us bereft of true change, and often ends with us shaking our heads in shame, mumbling to ourselves, “I meant well.”

This is where the above scripture comes in today.    I thought it only fitting to begin the new year with the beginning of the world–with creation.   As I began to read the account of our genesis, four words repeated often during those first 6 days caught my attention.  I know I have read them over and over again, but this time, God’s Spirit used them to remind me His ways are not my ways.  God is not like man.  Yes, we are created in His image, but we are not God–never were and never will be.   God is not man, that He should lie (Numbers 23:19).  God is not man, that He should default on a promise (2 Corinthians 1:20).   When God “means well,” He means it will happen.  What God plans, expect.

So what are the four words?

And it was so. 

God said it; and it was so.   Light?   It appeared.   The earth?   No longer void.    People?  Created and given the breath of life.    God saw the earth void and without form , so He spoke His plan, and it was so.

And it was so.

Such a powerful message in those four words.  It is a message of hope and of promise, and it is now my prayer for 2016.    God says in His Word, “Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but the Lord’s counsel, that will stand” (Proverbs 19:21).  He also says,  “The heart of man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps” (Proverbs 16:9).  It is certainly not sin to have dreams and desires and a plan, for I do believe these are capabilities given to us by the One who made us in His image.  Yet we must remember it is His counsel that will stand.  It is His counsel we need and should desire. So this year, as I daily bow before my King, and as I pray the familiar words of the model prayer provided by Jesus–“Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven”–I will now end it with “Let it be so.”   Not “let it be so” because I mean well and want my own plans to succeed, but rather “let it be so” because God is God and I am His child.   And if God means well for something to happen in my life, then it will be so!

What about you?  Are you believing for something in 2016?  Do you have a plan as to how you’d like it to go?   Whatever your plan or desire (or maybe even fear), I encourage you to present it to God and submit to His lead.   Search His Word for His promises and for His direction.  And then seek His face.  Pray.  Pray His will be done on earth as it is in heaven.  For as you pray His will, you can trust in His way.   And if God plans it for you, it will be so.  And it will be good.  For when God creates something, it isn’t just good, it is very good (Genesis 1:31)

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, lean not on your own understanding.  In all your ways acknowledge the Lord, and He will direct your paths.” – Proverbs 3:5-6