Walking in Freedom Before the New Year Begins

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We ask a simple but searching question: is a date on the calendar quietly running your spiritual life? Together, we talk about the common habit of waiting for January 1st—or Monday, or the “right time”—to finally change, and how that delay slowly erodes peace, fuels numbing behaviors, and keeps us distant from God. We explore the hidden costs of postponement during the holidays: overeating that dulls awareness, scrolling that steals presence, spending that numbs grief, and the pressure that crashes down when the new year arrives. Anchored in Romans 12:2, Proverbs 3:5–6, and Psalm 95, we re-frame change as daily mind renewal and trust, not a performance-driven reset. Along the way, we share honest stories of striving, fear of failure, and the relief that comes when we let go of perfectionism and return to a daily walk with God.

At the heart of the episode is Look and Learn, a simple two-part rhythm for resilient growth. First, we look with God at what actually happened—without judgment—asking questions like: Was I tired? Triggered? Believing something untrue? Then we learn by naming truth we can hold onto now and considering how we might respond differently next time. This practice turns setbacks into growth points and reminds us that every moment is an invitation to begin again. We close by remembering that the gospel calls us to reliance, not resolutions, and that Philippians 1:6 assures us God Himself is faithfully carrying the process forward. If you’re tired of waiting for the perfect start, we invite you to take one surrendered step today.

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Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_02 (00:00):
Hi, and welcome to Revelation Within on the Go.
I'm Heidi Files McEpherson, oneof your hosts, and the chief
cook and bottle washer atRevelationWithin.org.

SPEAKER_00 (00:12):
I'm Christina Motley, your other host, also
Revelation Within coach, andI've been known to watch a few
bottles myself.
I'm Heidi's partner in allthings Revelation Within, and we
are so happy to invite you tojoin us for this episode of
Revelation Within.

(00:39):
We're so glad you're here.
Um, today's episode might stepon a few toes, including ours.
Oh no.
Good thing I put shoes on.

SPEAKER_02 (00:51):
Yeah, you better get shoes on.
We're talking about irony andeven the danger of waiting for
January 1st, as though it's somemagical date to start something
meaningful, especially when itcomes to our walks with God, our
eating, how we care for ourbodies, mind renewal, and more.
We really want to hit this.

(01:12):
Yeah, we want to look at thiscarefully.
We do, we definitely do.
So let's start with somethingjust really honest.
How many of us have said, I'llstart fresh January 1st?
Especially we say that inNovember and December, right?
But what happens when we saythat?
I mean, it sounds so noble andso godly and good and right.

SPEAKER_00 (01:36):
Yeah, it does.
And it kind of sounds like,okay, you know what?
This I'm just gonna make thiseasy on myself.
I'm gonna give myself permissionto just plunge into the excess,
to overdo, to tune out God'svoice.
Well, that none of that doessound easy, really.
No, I'm gonna do that.

(01:56):
No, but on the one hand, italmost does.
I mean, this is how I used tofeel for years, because it's
like, I'm just gonna set thisaside.
I'm gonna put this off, I'mgonna move it over, I'm gonna
pull the rug over my issues, um,and I'm gonna just be ready to
go in January.
I'm gonna be ready.

(02:17):
But I mean, really, after all,we're about to clean things up
soon.
So it's like it's coming andI'll be fine.
On the one hand, it sounds, itsounds kind of good.
On the other hand, it it soundsawful.

SPEAKER_02 (02:33):
It sounds a little scary to me.
I mean, I've had seasons of mylife where I'm like, God, talk
to the tail.
Okay, I've got to admit that.
But yes, we all have.
Yeah.
You know, we've said itourselves.
I'm gonna start again January1st, or I'm gonna do this and
this and this all noble and goodJanuary 1st.

(02:53):
And we get it because we we'vedone it too.
We get it.
Yes, there's a lie underneathit, and that I mean, we want to
be aware where our thoughtsdon't align with God's thoughts.
He's good and he's loving andall of that.
So if my mind and my thoughtsare not aligning with his, I'm

(03:16):
missing something I don't wantto miss.
And the life is underneath thatI'm gonna start on January 1st
is obedience can wait.
Or yeah, ouch, ouch, right?
There's the toad.
Or even my transformation willbegin when I say it begins.

SPEAKER_00 (03:37):
Yeah, I mean, it's so um yikes.
It's like when you said that,I'm thinking, yeah, but no,
that's yeah, no, we don't wantto go there.
We really don't.
And yet, scripture doesn'tdescribe transformation that
way.
You know, Romans 12, 2 says, donot conform to the pattern of

(03:59):
this world, but be transformedby the renewing of your mind.
Then you will be able to testand approve what God's will is,
his good, pleasing, and perfectwill.
Why would we want to push thataway?
Why would we want to put thatoff?
That's exactly what we'relonging for.

(04:20):
This kind of this push-pullthing.
I mean, I did it for so manyyears.
It's like, okay, God, you know,fix this, fix this, fix me, help
me.
Okay, let's do it later.
It's just way too much.
I got all these presents towrap, I got all this stuff going
on.
You know, and it's just likethis push-pull, it's a conflict.
It was a conflict within me foryears.

(04:43):
Definitely.

SPEAKER_02 (04:44):
I just want to circle back to Romans 12, too,
where it says, do not conform tothe pattern of this world.
And this time of year, there's alot of patterns in this world
that's called to not conform to.
I mean, what's more conformingto the world than waiting for
January 1st to finally dosomething hard?

(05:04):
You know?
I mean, really, let's be honest.
That's the calendar the worldhas chosen.
But God invites us to betransformed today.
Today, right now, right now,right now, right now.
That's good news.
Isn't that good news?
I don't need to wait.
I don't need to wait, and Idon't want to wait.

SPEAKER_00 (05:27):
Yeah, it is good news, and I love that he invites
us constantly.
He's inviting us into his ownheart with what we're dealing
with.
I think sometimes we think,well, if I go to God, or I think
this way sometimes, if I go toGod, it's just gonna be so hard.
You know, he's gonna like bringup all these huge issues in me.

(05:47):
And I'm just, I don't have time,you know.
Uh that's why I want to postponethat kind of thing.
And God says, No, I'm full ofcompassion.
I love you.
I want to walk with you exactlywhere you're at.
I won't overwhelm you.
So when we say I'll start overJanuary 1st, I mean it sounds so

(06:09):
wise.
It sounds clean and structured.
It's like, I have got I've got aplan.
What it can become is an excuseto delay surrender.
And actually, when we'redelaying surrender, we're
choosing a whole bunch of awfulstuff.
You know, we're choosing not tofeel peace, we're choosing to be

(06:29):
dependent on ourselves, we'rechoosing to make it all about
us, we're choosing to beexhausted, basically.

SPEAKER_02 (06:39):
Wait a minute, you're telling me and the whole
world that's listening thatthese things, these negative
things are going to happen orare happening if I choose to
wait until January 1st tochange.

SPEAKER_00 (06:56):
Yes, it's true.
I mean, I've actually beentalking with God a lot this week
because I've been dealing withsome stressful situations and
some fears.
And I've been talking with himabout that because I've kind of
been wanting to say, can we dealwith this later?
This is like too hard right now.

(07:17):
But what he's saying to me isdealing with it now with me,
you're gonna love it.
You're gonna love it.
It's gonna bring peace, it'sgonna bring joy, it's gonna
bring life to you.
But the world says, no, itwon't.
The world says the opposite, youknow?

SPEAKER_02 (07:34):
Well, and there is really an irony to this whole
idea of us waiting until January1st.
We end up doing more damage inthe waiting, like you've been
talking about, not justphysically either.
I mean, yeah, if I say I'm justgonna enjoy all the foods that
come out at holiday time, and Imean enjoy without any governor

(07:55):
on my enjoyment, right?
Without any max.
Yeah, right.
It's not just a physical cost,but it's a spiritual one too.
We end up, I at least I have,I've drifted, I've numbed out,
I've pulled away from God, and Idon't want to do that.
I don't want to give myself overin some way to something he's

(08:18):
gently and sweetly reallyinviting me to impress with him.
And really, if any of ourlisteners, or if you or I, of
course, are thinking that thisis gonna be so painful to deal
with if I try to do it duringthe holidays when there's so
much stress, when there's this,where's it, there's that, it's

(08:38):
possible we need to go back tothe God list and remind
ourselves what is true aboutGod's character.
You know, what does he like?
What does he do for his people?
Because yes, sometimes it'shard, it's sometimes it's very
hard, but he gives us what weneed, says we have all things
for life and godliness,everything we need for life and
godliness.

(08:59):
And so he wants to supply everyspiritual blessing in Christ,
and so I don't want to miss outon that, and right now I
postpone doing hard things untilsome date on the calendar that
has been fabricated probably byHallmark, anyway.
I'm gonna miss out.

SPEAKER_00 (09:17):
I don't want to do that, I don't want to drift away
from God.
Well, and when I think back toall those holidays, which
seriously are most of theholidays in my adult life, I
think back to how did I feelwhen that's what I chose?
How did I feel I was miserable?
To be very honest, I was.

(09:40):
And for me, food and eating hasalways been the biggest
stronghold for me, the biggestchallenge.
And so I would kind of let go ofall boundaries, I would kind of
let go of all the wisdom andjust say, Lord, let's talk about
this in January.
And then what?
I was miserable, I hated it.

(10:00):
And January 1st comes.

SPEAKER_02 (10:02):
Oh my gosh.
And there's pressure pressure atthe time.
I better get my act togethertoday, right now, this minute.
Yeah, it's all my full.

SPEAKER_00 (10:12):
And then what happens by January 2nd?
You know, it's January 2nd.
I mean, I haven't dealt withanything.
I I haven't, you know, dealtwith anything that's going on in
my mind, my heart, the the lies,anything I haven't been going to
God.
And so January 1st feels likethis impossible day.
The whole month feelsimpossible.

(10:33):
Um, and so there's more miserythere.
But when we go to God, it'slike, oh my gosh, everything He
has for us is life-giving.
It doesn't drain us, it doesn'texhaust us, it does the
opposite.
So we want to ask a fewquestions here of ourselves and
of you.
But why am I waiting to pursuehealing or growth?

(10:59):
Why am I waiting?
What is behind that?

SPEAKER_02 (11:03):
And invite God into that and ask him, is this
aligned with you?
Is there a lie here?
Is there something from my pastthat causes me to think that
this is the way to do it?

SPEAKER_00 (12:23):
And then am I using January 1st as a crutch to keep
me comfortable right now?
Even though for me, like what Isaid, when I look at it, I'm
really not comfortable at all inthat place.
I'm real, I'm really hating it,but it's like this kind of
false, it's a counterfeit, it'sa false comfort.

(12:44):
It is, yeah.
And then one more do I thinkthat I'll have more willpower
than or more desperation?

SPEAKER_02 (12:55):
Hmm.
Well, you know, I always thoughtof holidays.
I mean, there were a lot oftimes, as strange as this may
sound, when if I was gonna do mydieting thing, I started it at
holiday time.
You know, that sounds crazy, butI remember the year I went on
Weight Watchers, like in the 19late 1990s.
I don't remember the exact if itwas 98 or what, but I started

(13:19):
before Thanksgiving.
And, you know, even then Ifigured if I can do it through
the holidays, I can do itthrough anything.
But that's true.
I mean, right now, if we candeal with whatever it is that
that we know God is calling usto offer to him instead of
waiting until January 1st, if wecan do this now, if I can manage

(13:41):
giving my heart, surrendering tohim now, I could do it anytime.
I really can.
I want to be willing to do that.
I really do.

SPEAKER_00 (13:50):
I do too.
I I'm tired of messing aroundwith all the waiting that I did
for years and years.
I'm tired of it.
I don't want to wait anymore.
I want, I am ready.
I'm so ready for God's best.
I'm so ready to let go andsurrender and say, okay, God,
let's do it.
Let's do it.
Let's go.

SPEAKER_02 (14:11):
Exactly.
So I actually believe that thisarea of my life isn't really
noticed by God or under his careuntil I'm ready to make a
change.
He is there, he's not crossinghis arms and tapping his toe and
rolling his eyes at me.
He's not like that at all.

(14:31):
Uh, when I have looked at thescriptures and asked God to show
me what you are like, what doyou do for people?
He has shown me his character isgentle, it's loving, he's firm,
but he's firm in all the bestways.
He's reliable, he's unchanging,and again, on all the best ways.
So, of course, whatever area Ineed to offer to him and

(14:55):
surrender to him, food, eating,body image, whatever it might
be, spending, it could bespending, it could be scrolling,
whatever.
He's ready, he's there, he'salready in it.

SPEAKER_00 (15:05):
Well, and a lot of us are dealing with grief around
the holidays, too.
And a lot of people push thataway because it's like, I can't
deal with that, I can't dealwith that, but it's miserable to
push it away, or maybe fear ofthe future, you know,
disappointment.
Oh, by this time last year, Ithought I would be blah, blah,
blah.
You know, there's just a ton ofemotions going on right now.

(15:27):
Heidi and I have our share.
We better get to some scripture.
Proverbs 3, 5 through 6.
Love, love, love this verse.
Trust in the Lord with all yourheart and lean not on your own
understanding.
That's pretty clear.
Lean not on your ownunderstanding.

(15:48):
In all your ways, submit to him,and he will make your paths
straight.
I mean, again, it's like allyour heart, lean not on your own
understanding.
All your ways submit to him, andhe will make, he will, not
maybe.
It doesn't say, okay, on January1st, trust in the Lord.

(16:09):
Start trusting then.
That'll be right.

SPEAKER_02 (16:11):
Are you screwing doesn't say that?
I think it doesn't say that.

SPEAKER_00 (16:14):
Put go ahead and put it off till then, and then trust
in the Lord.
It says, in all your ways,starting right now.
And to me, there's some reliefin that.
I'm kind of like, yeah, this isexactly what I need to hear
today.

SPEAKER_02 (16:31):
Another scripture for us today, Psalm 95, verses
seven and eight, say, today,when?
Today, today, today, today, ifyou hear his voice, do not
harden your hearts.
Oh boy.
Yeah, that's pretty clear, isn'tit?
There's an urgency here.

(16:51):
It's not pressure, like thepressure I feel when I put it
all off until the first ofJanuary.
It's it's not pressure, but it'san invitation.
It's an urgent invitation.
If God is stirring your hearttoday, how about respond today?
Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (17:09):
Yeah, definitely.

SPEAKER_02 (17:11):
So what do we do instead of waiting for that
mythical perfect day, January1st of the new year, to start?
How about let's just invite Godinto the moment we're in right
now, right now, not the one in aweek or in three days on the
calendar.
We're gonna the next Monday.
Especially if the Monday is atthe beginning of a month and

(17:33):
yeah, oh my goodness.
Um yeah, we want to invite Godinto the moment we're in and
then listen and ask him forhelp.
It's so interesting because Iknow I did this for years and
years.
We return again and again, evenafter a mess, slip, stumble,
slide, fall, failure, whateverhappens, we return to him again,

(17:57):
invite him into the moment we'rein, and ask him for help.
We don't put ourselves up, wedefinitely go to him again and
again.

SPEAKER_00 (18:08):
Well, and we practice what we call daily look
and learn.
Heidi and I use look and learnevery single day.
This tool replaces the all ornothing resolution mindset with
grace-based, spirit-ledreflection.

SPEAKER_02 (18:24):
You know what?
I have a resolution that I makeevery year.
It's to make no resolutions.
I resolve not to make any NewYear's resolutions because today
is the day that the Lord hasmade.
Oh, yes, right.

SPEAKER_00 (18:41):
You know what?
I used to be so afraid.
First, I would start on thatmagical day, the magical hour,
the magical month, and then Iwould just hold my breath until
I mean I just knew I was gonnamess up so quickly.
And I was afraid to mess upbecause then I had to find the
next magical day, hour, month,whatever.

(19:02):
And it just went on and on.
And so when I started to learnhow to renew my mind, this was
one of my big milestones was Idon't have to be afraid to mess
up.
It's gonna happen anyway.
Let's just expect it.
Let's be ready and have a plan.
And that's what look and learnis.

(19:23):
Look and learn is a beautiful,life-giving plan.
It's actually mind renewal.
We're gonna kind of walk youthrough it right now, what that
looks like.
Because it's so freeing to havea plan and not have to be
afraid.
I'm gonna mess up tomorrow.
I'm gonna mess up thisafternoon, I just messed up a
minute ago.
And now I have to start allover.

(19:44):
And it's like, no, there's nomore stops and starts, just
walking with the Lord, walking.
Okay, so let's get into thislook and learn a little bit.
And I think that you are gonnalove this.
Um, if you have struggled atall, like I have for so many
years, with what do I do when Imess up?

(20:04):
You know, do I just pretend itdidn't happen?
Do I write five pages in myjournal about how sorry I am?
What's the way?
All right.
So the first thing that we do islook and we look with the Lord.
We invite him in and we lookdispassionately.
So it's not like, wait, let mejust get this hammer so I can

(20:26):
beat myself up first.
It's not like that.
No, it's just let's look.
Let's look at what happened.
Lord, what happened right there?
Did I eat when I wasn't hungry?
Did I totally check outemotionally?
Was I triggered by something?
Did I feel ashamed?
What happened there?
Something happened.

(20:47):
Was I tired or exhausted?
I mean, it could be any numberof things.
Uh, were my feelings hurt?
And then the second thing wewant to do is learn because a
mess up is never wasted if we'relearning from it.
Um it's valuable, it's actuallyimportant, it's special.

(21:07):
It's something we can put in ourtreasure box of lessons, you
know, that we're learning withthe Lord and we're growing that
way.
So we want to ask, Lord, whatare you showing me in this?
What lie was I believing whenthat happened?
What truth can I embrace today,right now, today?

(21:27):
How can I respond differentlynext time?

SPEAKER_02 (21:31):
Yeah, exactly.
Inviting God into it.
He has marvelous things he wantsto tell us.
Jeremiah 33.3 says, Call to meand I will tell you great and
amazing, marvelous things thatyou do not know.
We don't need to wait for a newyear, a new month, a new week.
We don't need to keep waitingfor Mondays.

(21:52):
With look and learn, everymoment can be redeemed.
It becomes a new beginning.
In fact, we have a um a littledownload you could grab if you
want on Look and Learn.
And the URL for that is justsimply teamlifeisgood.com
forward slash redeem.
I love that.

(22:12):
Reminds us that the look andlearn tool is God's way of
redeeming my mess ups, my slips,stumbles, slides, falls,
failures, whatever it is.

SPEAKER_00 (22:22):
Well, and then every day becomes a fresh chance to
grow in intimacy with God, thinkhis thoughts, and walk in
greater freedom.
I mean, that's like the biggestbonus to this look and learn
thing is that we become closerand closer with the Lord as we
do it.
It doesn't push him away or pushus away.

(22:44):
Not that that's even possiblebecause he says he will never,
ever, ever leave us.
But really, my intimacy with theLord has grown so much in these
look and learn moments.
It's like, teach me, Lord.
I want to be taught.
I want to be open to yourwisdom.
Like you said, Heidi andJeremiah.

(23:05):
I mean, I want that now.
I don't want to miss it.
I don't want to miss out.
I want to hear from God.

SPEAKER_02 (23:11):
And we've done a lot of podcasts about look and learn
specifically.
So feel free wherever you go toget your podcasts, do a search
for look and learn in our in ourset of podcasts.
You'll find a number of themthere.
You know, let's just say it realplain.
The gospel message is not aboutresolutions.

(23:34):
I'm getting better.
It's not about promising to bebetter or do more, it's about
receiving Jesus, relying on him,and then walking step by step
and surrender.
And I love that about the gospelmessage.
I don't want to set my life upin such a way that it runs

(23:55):
contrary to the very gospel thathas saved me for eternity.

SPEAKER_00 (24:00):
Well, and what better, what better time than
right now?
We're in the month of Decemberright now.
What better time to do this andto walk closely with the Lord?
This is the month that He cameto walk closely with us, you
know?
This is the month.
What better time than right now?
Philippians 1, 6 says, He whobegan a good work in you will

(24:23):
carry it on to completion untilthe day of Christ Jesus.
I mean, that meanstransformation is a process, not
a January 1st project.
This is a process that God iscalling us to embrace, to love
walking with him, mess ups andall, not to be afraid, but just

(24:47):
to walk with him and learn andlisten and love what he tells
us.

SPEAKER_02 (24:53):
Yes, definitely.
So, you know, whether it'sDecember 12th or April 8th or
November 1st, whatever.
God doesn't work in you, friend.
He hasn't paused to grow untilyou feel ready.

SPEAKER_00 (25:10):
Right, exactly.
Okay, so we've got a fewquestions for you to take into
your time with the Lord thisweek.
Maybe you want to just pick oneor spend time with all three?
Am I postponing obedience orsurrender?
Because I want to start freshlater.
Am I postponing obedience orsurrender?

(25:33):
Because I want to start freshlater.
Okay, question number two.
Where might I be using January1st as a distraction from
today's invitation?

SPEAKER_01 (25:49):
That's a good one.

SPEAKER_00 (25:50):
Yeah, where might I be using January 1st as a
distraction from today'sinvitation?
And last one, what would it looklike to bring this to the Lord
right now?
Now, right now.
What would it look like to bringthis to the Lord right now?

SPEAKER_02 (26:12):
Yeah, definitely.
Well, let's leave you with this,friend, Second Corinthians 6 2.
Now is the time of God's favor.
Now the day of salvation.

SPEAKER_00 (26:25):
Now right now.
Right now.
So if you are longing forchange, if there's something
going on in your life you arereally struggling with, don't
wait for a date.
Don't wait for a date.
God is ready today.
His arms are open wide.
He's waiting.

(26:46):
He's ready.
And he delights in walking withyou into the next moment,
surrendered and free.

SPEAKER_02 (26:53):
And feel free to download that freebie, teamlife
is good.com forward slashredeem.

SPEAKER_00 (27:02):
We're so glad that you've been here today, and we
would love to invite you to ournext episode of Revelation
Within.
See you next time.
Bye bye.