Stephen De La Vega

  Some countries have already celebrated Thanksgiving this year. My country will celebrate next week. It’s a time of looking back with family or friends to acknowledge our blessings (or harvest, historically). But it’s not always a positive reflection. Sometimes there’s baggage. Maybe often. Sometimes it’s our baggage or our shortcomings. We might even feel like walking away from God. Or maybe we already have. If we carry this into Thanksgiving week, or just in life, this Resolution 11 is for us.   We began our “ Journey to Resolve ” in July 2024. (Sorry it’s taking so long to cover all 15 resolutions!) The articles in this series have been New Year’s resolutions throughout the year, not just at the beginning. So far, we’ve enjoyed some very brief book surveys and stories that highlight important parts of Israel’s history. And our last two resolutions were drawn from two books of poetry and wisdom: Job and Proverbs. We circle back now to a sweeping look at Israel’s history...

  Tell my feet not to falter Tell my lips what to say Tell me walk on these waters Tell my hands what to pray Overwhelm, when I’m overwhelmed Overcome, when I’m overcome These are lyrics from a song called Companion by Tom Mottershead . Sometimes life overwhelms us. It overwhelmed Job whose experience with naysayers was featured in Resolution 9, Rise Above the Naysayers . We ended Resolution 9 with encouragement to entrust ourselves to God. Job realized: He doesn’t have the perspective to understand the why. Nothing can compare to the authoritative power of God. His limitations should be accompanied by humble trust in God’s wisdom and character. And he said this in response: My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you. Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes.” Job 42:5-6 Job bowed in humility. He lost everything and he would never fully understand why. We don’t understand the why behind the winding in the ...