People often mark the New Year by promising to embrace new beginnings and change for the better.
Christian author Jennifer LeClaire believes that people can fulfill their dreams in 2016 just as long as they have God on their side.
"Now is the time to determine that you will press past the past and press into a new beginning. You can birth those new things that Lord has put in your spiritual womb. You can't make it happen in your own strength. I mean to say that you can't do God's part. But you can do your part," she writes in an article for Charisma News.
LeClaire then shares four tips on how people can "break into God's new thing":
1. Give your will over to the Lord.
People's dreams might seem extremely scary to achieve, and it might overwhelm people to the point that they no longer want to face it. Whenever self-doubt rises, LeClaire suggests that people look up to Mary.
"We can take a lesson from Mary. It's time to face your fears — fear of the unknown, fear of failing, fear of rejection, fear of transition. When the angel came to Mary and told her she would birth the Son of God, she ultimately responded: 'I am the servant of the Lord. May it be unto me according to your word' (Luke 1:38)," she says.
2. Be willing to adjust your schedule.
Once people decide to commit to their plans, they have to allow the realisation of those plans. For women who are planning to have a baby, they could begin by changing the way they eat, sleep, and spend their time in general.
"As we prepare to enter a year of new beginnings and birthings, we must be willing to adjust our schedules and to spend more time in the Word, in worship and in prayer. That may mean giving up other things," says LeClaire.
3. Be willing to shift your direction.
Sometimes people's dreams seem stuck in midair. LeClaire says the only way to fulfill those dreams would be to adjust the dreamers' lives. "It doesn't always take much. Just one gentle movement in the right direction can cause God to breathe on that thing again, so you can birth it and begin nurturing what God has given you to steward," she says.
LeClaire says it is important for people to hear the Lord say which way to shift first. Sometimes, people are simply stuck in the wrong place or in the wrong time with the wrong people. She quotes Isaiah 30:21 to explain: "Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, 'This is the way, walk in it.'"
4. Embrace the transition.
"Transitions are difficult," notes LeClaire. "This is the place where people tend to grow weary and faint. The moments right before you give birth to that new thing — before you enter that new beginning — are the hardest of all."
But she encourages people never to give up. Even during their darkest hours, people should always strive to get back up again and claim their dreams. "Sometimes victory in spiritual warfare really is just a matter of outlasting the devil. Keep pressing! Jesus is your victory banner," she says.
