We’d all be hard-pressed to find anyone who speaks positively about 2020. Regardless of anyone’s political, social, or spiritual stances, this will go down as one of the toughest, most challenging year on record for the world.

As we consider the start of the new year, we need to see that God planned starts and stops for us. He showed us the value of a weekly end point in the creation of the Sabbath and then a fresh beginning point in the first day of a new week.

When we write to communicate, we use punctuation to show changes in our language. These tiny symbols are just as crucial as our words in how we comprehend messages. A comma produces just a slight pause for effect, while a period means a change of thought. As we walk through life, there are also commas and periods—places where God says to pause and consider, then others where He tells us to stop and change course.

One of the biggest problems we can face in life is getting stuck between the commas and periods.

Let’s define being stuck as our forward motion has ceased. Consistently remaining in the same place with no growth, no progress, and the longer we stay there, the more the realization sets in of our state of stuckness. It is also easy in our culture to think that running in place is forward motion, when in reality it is just slowly wearing us out.

Here are a few points to consider as we enter a new year regarding the state of stuckness:

1— If you have lost your hunger for growth and change, you’re stuck.

This point needs no further explanation. We get it.

2—We can’t mistake activity for productivity.

Running in place is great for fitness, but not life. When we get stuck in useless, non-productive situations, we are tempted to just increase the activity, so as to fake everyone out, including ourselves. That kind of activity slowly digs a hole into which we eventually disappear.

3—Wisdom from God is the only true catalyst to discern comfort from being stuck.

The God Who sees the future knows when it is the perfect time to move, so as to never be stuck SO ask.

4—The only way to get unstuck is to move in a new direction.

Isn’t it interesting that the human condition will cause us to sit in one spot being miserable, because the risk to move creates a more overwhelming emotion, usually fear? Feeling a growing level of misery seems to numb the courage to risk.

Here’s a great resource for challenging our stuckness. Take 30 minutes and scan through the key characters of Scripture. We will quickly see that every one of them was challenged at some point to step out and risk, often on an on-going basis, moving out to a place where God was leading.

If you are extremely comfortable with where life is, Even being comfortable with uncomfortability, watch out and pray for wisdom. It may be a habit, a routine, a job… Whatever has been comfortable day to day but it is not growth. It’s so tempting place to fall asleep at the wheel and wake up in a wreck, wondering what happened. Let’s take a moment this week to examine our hearts and motives and walk into a new year with renewed purpose.

Let’s pray together: “Heavenly Father, thank You that You know when I am to pause and when I am to stop and start again. Guide me to know when to stay put and when to step out and risk. Following You means I move when You move. As above, so below.”