think if we’re honest with ourselves, we’ve felt like we were in the middle of one of these emoji conversations at times. We feel a certain way and we’re trying to communicate that to each other—trying to communicate that to God even—and things seem to simply get lost in translation. Sometimes we even begin to wonder if we should feel a certain way. Our hearts tell us, “God, You said you would be close to me, but I feel really alone right now.” And, then we begin to think, “I feel alone; therefore, I must be actually be alone,” and we begin to follow these feelings that we don’t even quite understand ourselves.

Family feuds are no stranger to history. If you have a sibling, then you probably know what we’re talking about, but hopefully not do the degree of Adi and Rudi. But, the in the Old Testament when find some pretty vicious stories of brotherly rivals. Within the book of Genesis alone, we encounter the story of Cain and Abel—where Cain murdered his brother. We find the story of Jacob and Esau—where Jacob stole his brother’s birthright. We find the story of Joseph and his brothers—where his brothers sold him into slavery. And, we find the story of Isaac and Ishmael—who created a feud we still feel the effects of to this day.

Many of us can actually identify with the story of David because if we’re honest with ourselves, we’re all chasing after a throne. It might look like a job promotion. Or, it might be a relationship or raising a family. It might be that bigger house or that new car. It might be our 401K’s and golf appointments. I mean, our throne is whatever we are giving our energy to. It’s whatever we are chasing after in life. And, again, if we’re honest with ourselves, none of these things seem like bad things, right? But, man, we can get so locked into the pursuit of our thrones that we neglect the before-the-throne moments. We can get so locked into how we’re going to get there and when we’re going to get there that we fail to tend to who we will be when we get there—what kind of person we are becoming. And, we can get to these big moments—these throne moments—to find out quickly we’re not at all who God desired us to become.

There are many of us that have attempted to produce change in our lives unsuccessfully or only superficially but, today, God desires to do something new within us. You see, we often look to Jesus to change our circumstances when He really wants to change us. And, so, no matter what your resolution may be—it might be to quit smoking, to lose weight or to get out of debt—it’s not really about becoming healthier or becoming financially wiser. I mean, those are certainly all good intentions. But, we want more than that; we want God-intentioned lives. And, the God-intention for our lives is not simply to be healthier or wiser at the end of 2015; it’s to be closer to Jesus. It’s to look more like Him. It’s to seek His face in the midst of difficult change.