As I scrolled through my social media feeds this morning, I saw post after post all saying the same thing. Some used words, others let the pictures do the talking, but almost all of them had the same message – “Happy New Year!” – and most of them were, well, happy.
There were a few outliers, some pictures taken of people who were sound asleep on couches and chairs after fighting valiantly (and losing) to see the new year, but the people who took the selfies next to the sleepers were smiling. So, that counts, too, right?
Many of the posts had to do with what the new year holds. The hope that 2016 will be better than 2015. The belief that whatever we didn’t achieve last year will finally be achieved this year.
I agree. I think 2016 will be your best year ever, but only if you learn to practice one skill.
The truth is that, although everyone says Happy New Year, it won’t be happy – in fact, it can’t be happy – for all 366 days (yes, it’s a leap year!). There will be times when things don’t go well, and some of those days are going to be bad.
Jesus said as much in Matthew 5:45 when he told his disciples that rain was going to fall on everyone at some point. If he was standing in Times Square and saying that verse today, it might have sounded like, “Great selfie, but you know it won’t always be smiles and confetti, right?”
Case in point? One of the families I was celebrating the new year with had a flat tire as they were heading home a few hours before midnight, which prompted me to yell out, “Crappy New Year!!”
Sure, technically that happened in 2015, but I think you get the point. Every year, every month, every week and every day has good and bad, and if you want all those goals, dreams and resolutions to happen this year, then you’re going to have to master the art of recovery.
We can learn a lot from professional golfers.
I don’t play a lot of golf, but sometimes I watch golf on TV. Especially if I want to take a nap. But I remember watching one of the majors back when Tiger Woods was at the top of his game, and he had just hooked a drive deep into the woods.
Woods was deep in the woods.
As Tiger paced back and forth trying to decide what his next shot would be, the announcer said something I’ve never forgotten. In so many words, he said that what sets professional golfers apart from all the rest of the golfers isn’t that they never make bad shots, but that they’ve learned how to recover from them.
[Tweet “Learning to recover well from moments that don’t go well is crucial if 2016 is going to end well.”]That’s the skill that will allow you and me to end 2016 with the same hope that we began it with. Learning to recover well from the moments that don’t go well is crucial if 2016 is going to end well. Recovery allows us to remember that even though everyone will fall, it’s only the ones who stay down that will fail.
[Tweet “Everyone falls, but it’s only the ones who stay down that fail.”]So, how do we get up when we want to stay down? Here are 3 quick exercises for your soul when it feels like your happy has gone to crappy.
Recognize
Job had one of those years when happy turned to crappy in a hurry. He had lost it all, everything except his life and his wife, and she begged him to curse God because of it. His response should be ours.
He replied, “You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?” In all this, Job did not sin in what he said. (Job 2:10)
Men, I’m not suggesting that you call your wife foolish (that’ll start the new year off badly!), but I am pointing out the importance of recognizing that God is behind it all, and he can use it all in order to accomplish his purposes. God doesn’t give us tension to punish us, but he can use tension to awaken us!
[Tweet “God doesn’t give us tension to punish us, but he can use tension to awaken us!”]Refocus
God doesn’t want the bad times to awaken us to some cruel fate or to some wacky belief that the universe is out to get us. He uses the tension of hard times to awaken us to his sovereign power that allows us to stand in the trial until he delivers us from the trial. Need proof? Check out 1 Corinthians 10:13.
[Tweet “God’s sovereign power allows us to stand in the trial until he delivers us from the trial.”]Sometimes we get jacked up wondering why he doesn’t deliver us when we want to be delivered, and we waste a lot of time and energy asking questions that, in all honesty, will never have a suitable answer. So, instead of spending a lot of time looking back at how our golf shot ended up in the woods, we’d be better off looking ahead at how we’re going to get it to the green. That’s what Paul was talking about when he wrote these words about staying focused:
Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:13-14)
Remember
I love that for Paul – and us – it’s never just about forgetting the past. Lots of people spend lots of time and money trying to do that, and they just end up frustrated, broke, and seeing a happy new year in January turn into a crappy old year by December. Paul knew there was more to it than just forgetting: the power comes from remembering, too, as long as we’re remembering the right things.
Things like God’s mercy toward us, his redemption of us, and his plans for us.
[Tweet “We can get back up on the bad days, because we serve a God who offers new mercy for the next day.”]Remembering those truths allows us to get back up on the bad days, because we serve a God who offers new mercy for the next day. Somehow he can take bad days and turn them around for our good and his glory.
So, when you hit a bad shot this year – and you will – see it as an opportunity to master the art of recovery. Recognize God’s hand in it, refocus on where you’re going, and remember that God’s got more than enough mercy to get you there.
I can’t guarantee that you’ll be a better golfer, but I know this: you’ll end 2016 with the same hope you had when it started.
And that makes for one incredibly Happy New Year!
