Welcome to the start of a new year!
Whilst not quite the start to the year we were all hoping for (when COVID-19 hit our shores at the end of 2019, I for one was certainly not expecting to still be impacted to the degree we are more than two years on!) but none the less it is a new year.
And that means new opportunities. New opportunities for us to encounter God; new opportunities for us to trust Him; new opportunities for us to worship Him; new opportunities for us to serve Him with our gifts and talents; new opportunities for us to draw closer to Him; new opportunities to allow God to bless us; new opportunities for us to have our faith strengthened; new opportunities for us to have our hope restored; new opportunities for us to show love, kindness and compassion. And new opportunities for us to allow God to use us to impact the lives of over 1,160 students that we will have the privilege of teaching in our schools this year!
Our new Vision statement is “To be a transformational Christian learning community”. Whenever I read that statement, I can’t help but be reminded of Paul’s exhortation to us in Romans 12 that as Christians – as new creations in Christ Jesus – we are no longer to conform to the standards or patterns of this world, but rather we are to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. The renewing of our thinking.
There is a lot going on in the world today and things are changing rapidly with COVID-19. This is causing a lot of uncertainty. It’s causing a lot of fear. It’s causing a lot of anxiety. Uncertainty, fear and anxiety all manifest themselves in our minds. In our thinking. So, as we start this year, in the midst of the chaos and confusion, I encourage all of us (myself included) to allow God to transform our minds. To transform our thinking. Rather than turning straight to Facebook in the morning to get your daily dose of the news, turn to God’s Word instead and allow God to renew your mind through His Word. God doesn’t want us to be conformed to this world. That means He doesn’t want what’s happening around us at the moment to cause us to have fear or doubt or anxiety. This is not God’s plan for us!
One of my favourite stories in the New Testament is recorded in Matthew 14. It’s the story of when Jesus calls Peter out onto the water. In the midst of the storm, with waves crashing around the boat, Peter, his eyes fixed on Jesus, steps out of the boat and is able to experience a miracle that no other person (apart from Jesus himself) had experienced – he was able to walk on water with confidence! But as soon as he started focusing his attention (his thinking) on the storm around him rather than on Jesus (the Word of God) fear and doubt crept into his mind – he allowed himself to be conformed to the world and to his circumstances (which were very real) and allowed the situation he was in to stop him from walking in faith and confidence.
I don’t know what’s going on in your world right now. But I encourage you, if you’ve allowed yourself to take your focus off Jesus and you’re focussing on the storm around you, you need only to call out to Jesus and the words He said to Peter He will say to you – “Take courage. Don’t be afraid!” And if you feel yourself sinking, as Peter found himself, all you need to do is to call out to Jesus, and like He did with Peter, He will reach out His hand and pull you back up!
When we allow God to transform our thinking, not only will we have discernment in knowing what to do and how to respond accordingly but we can live lives without fear or anxiety.
So, as we start this year, let’s make sure we continue to focus our attention (our thinking) on the one who created the universe with a Word. The one who is STILL IN CONTROL. Let’s focus on and trust in the name of Jesus, the name the Bible tells us is the name above every other name. And that means we can have confidence that Jesus’ name is above the name of COVID! Amen?
David Gillman — CEO Christian Schools Tasmania