The start of a new season can be a time filled with pressure to become the best version of yourself. The resolutions you made at the beginning of last year (or the top of this year) either happened or did not. Whether you accomplished all of your goals or didn’t quite meet them, feeling constant pressure to change and improve can be overwhelming. You have to give yourself grace and remember to trust God’s timing. Don’t be too hard on yourself.

Diamonds form under pressure—we’ve heard this fact our entire lives. However, just because we didn’t accomplish our full to-do list this year doesn’t mean that we are anything less than a diamond. In God’s timing, we will all flourish into the diamonds He’s calling us to be. It’s essential that we wait patiently on Him and His timing to shape and mold us individually into the diamond He needs us to be.

“Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the LORD’s purpose that prevails” (Proverbs 19:21). 

We can do amazing things that are not essentially God’s things.

So rest knowing that just because you didn’t check all the boxes doesn’t mean you’re a failure. Maybe some of those things weren’t in proper alignment. You must have faith that the things you thought you needed may not have been right for you at that moment. God has a plan, and oftentimes, we don’t understand it at first. 

I encourage you to take every goal and plan you have before the throne and ask God to order your steps. Ask Him to empty you and fill you with Him. He must increase, but we must decrease.

Being filled with God’s grace will help guide you on your path. Be comfortable submitting your to-do list to Him, but also be comfortable changing it if that’s not His will. Trust that He knows what you need and be open to listening to His calling. Be patient waiting on Him… sometimes His timing is not ours! 

Embrace the fresh start that is NOW. Hold God close and trust in His plan.