The average day that people give up their New Year’s resolutions is January 24. And only about 8% will see those resolutions through to fulfillment. That’s discouraging and encouraging at the same time.

It’s encouraging to think that I’m not the only one who struggles with sticking to my ideas for personal reform. But it’s also discouraging because how can we hope to follow through when it seems we’re doomed to fail at the beginning.

We start out with the best intentions. I’m going to eat/sleep/play/work better. I’m going to be more loving/cheerful/engaged/patient and less snarly/detached/angry. And we make plans and we make charts and we print out encouraging mantras to go on sticky notes. We have hope.

And things are going well. We ate salad, played with our kids, spent less electronic time. But then we don’t. And we give up.

These are struggles so many of us feel, this desire to see things in us change and the difficulty of seeing it through to completion.

How much more does this happen when we look deep inside ourselves to how we’re doing spiritually. When I look at myself I see that this is where the deepest desire and need for change rests.

Those surface issues of health, time spent, dependence on the material rather than God, all of these reflect things that are going on inside me at a deep and spiritual level.

And I try so hard. I want to be different. So I resolve and I read and I pray and I do alright and I think I have it all figured out and then…

BAM!

My vision blurs and I fall off course.

You were running a good race. Who cut in on you and kept you from obeying the truth? Galatians 5:7

What does set us off course? Like an athlete running toward the finish line who is blindsided and cut off, who tumbles to the ground and looks up, reeling and confused.

What got in front of my face and stopped me from seeing Jesus?

Maybe it was the idea that I could have just one brownie and don’t I deserve a treat?

Maybe it was being alone in front of the computer screen and thinking, “Who does this really hurt?”

Maybe it’s throwing down our Bible in frustration and thinking,“What does it matter anyway? God’s not listening.”

Maybe it’s looking at that other person and thinking, “But it’s a natural part of being human and it’s my choice.”

Maybe it’s that lie, that half-truth, that shrinking in our seat when we should have been standing up for something right.

Who cut in on you?

We can be deceived. Just as Adam and Eve were told whispered half-truths about themselves and God, we can get caught up in the lies that whisper in our head.

Lies that say we aren’t worth health and healing.

Lies that say God isn’t close and doesn’t care.

Lies that preach self-indulgence over self-discipline.

Lies that say we and what we do don’t matter.

That kind of persuasion does not come from the one who calls you. Galatians 5:8

Sometimes I get caught in the lie that Jesus is testing me and I need to prove my worthiness to him by working hard enough and being good enough. That these struggles are what I need to overcome to be closer to him.

But it’s backwards. Jesus doesn’t seek my failure in these struggles I have. He wants to come alongside me, showering me with grace and stamina and courage that can only come in supernatural supply from his hands.

By seeking his truth in the Bible and spending time with him I can start to see what he thinks about me. We are all worth immeasurably more to God than we can ever imagine.

And because of his love and grace to us, he wants to come alongside us as we journey towards who he created us to be. He can work in us and through us in ways that we could never fathom.

Jesus surrounds us with the shield of his love and truth and when we are cut off he grabs us and guides our faltering footsteps. He calls us forward into change and wholeness through his grace.