Happy Sabbath, friends!

Today is my birthday!

It marks a new year of life, new opportunities, and new opportunities for growth.

Birthdays have a way of causing us to reflect on what has changed, what we have learned, and what may be ahead. As I thought about entering another year of life, I felt on my heart that today’s message should be about something simple but important:

Our stories are not over yet.

Each birthday can serve as a reminder that God still has purpose for our lives. There are still pages left to be written, lessons left to be learned, people left to love, and opportunities ahead for God to use us.

Isaiah 43:18–19 (NIV)
““Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.”

Stepping Into The Unknown

When we enter another year of life, we may have no idea what the future holds.

There may be exciting opportunities ahead.

There may be unexpected changes.

There may be prayers answered differently than we imagined.

There may even be challenges we cannot currently see.

But not knowing what comes next is exactly where faith becomes important.

We are called to trust Jesus Christ and believe that even when we cannot see the entire picture, He already knows what lies ahead.

Psalm 139:16 (NIV)
“Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.”

There is something comforting about knowing that the next chapter of our lives may be unknown to us, but it is not unknown to God.

Another Year God Can Use Me

Instead of viewing each birthday simply as “another year for me,” what if we began looking at it as:

“Another year God can use me.”

Every day, every month, and every year we are given is another opportunity to live out the purpose God has placed before us.

Ephesians 2:10 (NIV)
“For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

Another year means more opportunities to grow closer to Christ.

More opportunities to serve others.

More opportunities to forgive.

More opportunities to be a witness.

More opportunities to use the gifts God has given us.

More opportunities to become more like Jesus.

When we begin looking at life this way, getting older becomes about much more than another number.

It becomes another opportunity to live with purpose.

God Is Not Finished With You

Maybe birthdays have always been difficult for you because they remind you of everything you have not finished or accomplished yet.

Maybe you thought you would be somewhere different by now.

Maybe you expected certain prayers to already be answered.

Maybe you thought your life would look completely different at this age.

But a birthday does not signify the end of your opportunity.

If anything, it reminds us that another chapter is beginning.

God is not finished with us.

Philippians 1:6 (NIV)
“being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”

We are all still growing.

Still learning.

Still being shaped.

Still becoming the people God has called us to be.

Another birthday is not a deadline for having everything figured out.

It is another reminder that God is still working.

Surrender The Next Chapter

This new chapter may include goals, opportunities, changes, and dreams, but we were never meant to carry the pressure of figuring everything out ourselves.

We are called to surrender.

We are called to trust.

We are called to place the unknown into the hands of Jesus Christ.

God has a purpose for each of us, and sometimes entering a new chapter means relinquishing the control we desperately want to hold onto.

Instead of allowing worry about the future to flood our minds, we can choose to trust the One who already sees it.

As you enter your own new chapters, ask yourself:

How can God use me in this season?
Who can I love better?
Where do I need to grow?
What is God asking me to surrender?
How can this next chapter point people toward Him?

Psalm 90:12 (NIV)
“Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.”

Make The Chapter Count

Every year of life is a gift.

Not because every year will be easy.

Not because every plan will work out exactly the way we imagined.

But because every day we are given is another opportunity to walk with Christ and allow Him to use our lives for His glory.

Colossians 3:17 (NIV)
“And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”

Today, as I begin another year of my own life, I do not know everything this next chapter will hold.

But I do know the Author.

And instead of trying to write every page myself, I want to trust Him with the story.

Whatever this next chapter brings, my prayer is that it draws me closer to Christ, allows me to love others better, and gives God another year to use my life for His purpose.

We may not know what is written on the next page.

But we know Who holds the pen.

And that is enough.

Amen.