2012 Is Here. Do You Feel Lucky? Well Do Ya?

What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? ... Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? ... Nothing in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God!
—Romans 8:31-35

2011 is gone; the year that, according to Google, is the one most people would like to forget! Now we look at 2012, through the same wearied and worried eyes, increasing media sound hype and wonder. You wonder; will I be luckier in 2012 than I was in 2011?

Looking forward at 2012 is kind of like having Clint Eastwood hold a gun on you and ask; “Well do ya feel lucky punk?”

How it feels and how it is in reality are two quite different things. Your world view and your faith view determine how events are framed in your mind and heart and consequently inform how you feel about them.
 If you ask a random person, they might well say that life today is like a pinball bouncing off the events of government, nature’s horrors, finances, politics, environment and heath…events and forces over which no one has control.

This is the first error that a victimized world view makes: thinking they are out of control.

When you feel out of control, you think that you have no choices, thus fewer resources to marshal help and build a confident approach to the unknown future. Dr. Victor Frankl, a neurologist and psychiatrist was imprisoned by the Nazis in one of the concentration camps where his wife, parents and family were taken away never to be seen again. His considered response to theses horrors is summed up in this quote: 

“Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.” ― Viktor E. Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning

I have sailed boats all my life and could say this in a different way: You cannot control the direction that the wind is blowing, but you can adjust the trim of your sails and move forward. Adjusting attitude is a similar process, through determination and choice no matter what 2012 throws your way; you will make it the best year possible.

Luck has little to do with what 2012 will be like. While you do not know what 2012 holds, you can be confident that it will be good, because the God of the universe is good, and He holds you in the palm of His hand.

In a few moments you will be caring for someone who is feeling a bit like a victim, unlucky in life and surrendering control to fate. Help them realize that they do have choices, God given choices for their life!