Pondering the new year. Silencing the noise to hear Gods voice.

Jesus began his ministry with a 40 day fast in the wilderness. Before entering into the ministry of all ministers, he removed himself from the fray. He entered into prayer and fasting. He went into seclusion.

That is where we must succeed first. We must be able to conquer and master ourselves. We must be able to face the whispers of the enemy that infiltrate our thoughts in the moments of loneliness, when the limelight goes out, when the crowds head home. We have to know who we are in him when the dissenters come, when disapproval rises. When the people revolt, when we fight the good fight in the name of the Lord and sin gets disrupted, when people are uncomfortable and the truth cuts too deep.

I need to know the shepherds voice. I need to know my name, who I am in Him. I need to be focused on his will and his approval alone. I need to rely on his strength and wisdom.

And so my fight is time. As an accountant I can get pulled into the stress of overwork, time restraints and doing more as all the demands of the previous year scream to be resolved. Year end reports, audits, taxes. While I’d like to leave 2013 behind, it still needs to be put to bed. The exercise of picking up the pieces and properly and painstakingly packing them away still needs to be done. And yet the new year beckons. New goals, new hopes, new dreams, new desires are clamoring.

Before the year is even on its way I can feel overwhelmed, buried by the demands, the pull back and the push forward. And so I need to stop. Be still. Balance and focus myself on the groom at the end of the aisle. So that I don’t get off track before I’ve taken the first step.

Not less, but more. I can go about removing from my life, but more important is what will take its place.

So what is it that needs to removed from my life, so that there is room for more of God in my life? Where should there be less of me, and the burdens, weaknesses, desires and indulgences that take up the spaces that need more of God?

Because what I need to sacrifice is nothing when measured against what I will receive to fill the void.