2020, “A Year We Won’t Soon Forget”

How we remember 2020 will be determined by the lens of our individual experiences. There is no doubt that we all experienced and shared extreme challenges and pain that we would love to forget. I remember many prophets sharing that 2020 would bring a complete new vision for all of us. A year of double blessings and favor. A year that our vision for our future would be clear with purpose. 2020 was noted as the decade of the mouth, to declare God’s heart and purpose on earth. 2020 started with such prophetic hope of a new beginning. So, what happened?

As we come to the close of 2020 I am challenged to write a final chapter that perhaps can bring a good closure to the year and the story it wrote in each of our lives. First, 20+20=40, the number 40 is loaded with a message from God’s heart to ours. We see the significance of the number 40 in both the Old and New Testament. In Numbers 32:13, Moses and the Hebrew people chose fear instead of Faith resulting in 40 years of wandering in the wilderness never entering the promise land God had for them. In contrast we see Jesus, in Luke 4:1, being led into the wilderness for 40 days and 40 nights without food or water being tempted by Satan, choosing to believe and stand on God’s word as He positioned Himself in God’s promise and favor. Second, 2020 is a “double number”, then it hit me. James 1:8 talks about a double-minded man is unstable in all his ways. It comes from the Greek word: DIPSUCHOS or double-soul. In a recent survey, a number of psychologists reported that much of the problem with compulsive and addictive behavior we’re seeing in 2020 is double-mindedness. Inside , these people really desire to overcome their issues but they keep getting conflicting messages…”enjoy them” on one hand and “repent of them” on the other. I believe that’s what has happened to a lot of God’s people during 2020. They have become “Double-Minded”. This year has divided our loyalty between God and the world causing a shaking in everything we do. In James 4:6-8, we see the danger of being a double-minded person. So what’s the answer to this double-minded dilemma.

According to James 4:6-8, if we submit to God in faith and resist the devil and stop buying into his lies, we will be able to draw nearer to God and He will draw nearer to us. As we do this He will cleanse us and deal with double-mindedness in our lives. God’s grace, His unmerited favor is released in our lives and Satan has to flee, just like he did as he left Jesus during His 40 days in the wilderness. As we choose to agree with God and His word and not the difficult circumstances of life and the lies of the enemy we will fulfill our calling. We enter a single-minded place of promise. Romans 15:6 declares, we will be of one mind and one mouth to glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. I’m believing, this is the theme of the last chapter of 2020 and the introductory message of 2021, emphasis on the “1”. We obtained the “mouth” in 2020, now lets obtain the “ONE-MIND”. Let’s use the keys given to us in James 4:6-8 to open the door in 2021, and enter in.

Question: Has 2020 left a “sour taste” in your mouth overshadowed with double-minded anxiety and fear? If it has maybe you need to believe Psa. 34:8 and taste and see that the Lord is good, Blessed is the man who trusts in Him. As we trust Him and not the circumstances of 2020 the true taste of Blessing will be good for your soul.

Key Thought: As 2020 shook us from head to toe, causing us to re-examine our motives and agendas as we looked at what our lives are built on…Sinking Sand or A Rock for stability. Let the “1” of 2021 begin to speak to your heart as He takes care of that double-minded stuff and transforms it into a single-minded trust in a living God that loves and adores you. Isa. 43:18-19, “Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold I am doing a new thing, now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.