EVERY JANUARY 1 BRINGS the promise of new starts and a brighter tomorrow. "This year for sure ..." people tell themselves. And the turn of the calendar year does provide a logical starting point to turn lives around, to gain new ground. Those lists of resolutions feel reassuring—words on paper that show us what we need to accomplish and how we can move forward.

But often the most important element in plans for new beginnings never even makes it on to the page: How God will play a vital role in guiding our endeavors. Yet relying on God to help navigate through whatever waters, rough or calm, lie ahead will ensure more positive results than any other plan.

Because God has designed each one of us with a beautiful, unique purpose, it's natural to ask how we can better our lives and accomplish increasingly more meaningful goals. And that purpose includes unlimited good. In the search for guidance on how to renew our energies and reach ever farther in fulfilling our unlimited potential, this passage from Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures will provide an unfailing guide: "Love [God] inspires, illumines, designates, and leads the way. Right motives give pinions to thought, and strength and freedom to speech and action" (Mary Baker Eddy, p. 454).

How reassuring to know that God, who is all the wisdom, intelligence, and prescience in the universe—eternally—and who knows every individual need now and in the future, will provide the means and avenues to accomplish whatever we set out to do. We can trust divine Love to lead us on a journey toward fulfillment. We can also have full confidence that Love will "inspire" us with ideas of what to do, as well as "illumine" those ideas, revealing the full magnitude of what we can accomplish. In practical ways, Love will "designate" the nuts and bolts of how to carry out everyone's dreams and goals. And finally, always, through every trial and triumph, Love will "lead" the way.

In this life-journey, as each strives to improve his/her life, how crucial it is to ask the question, "What are my motives?" Honestly and humbly examining each desire, we will know if God is in the picture—or if pride, ego, status, all the stumbling blocks to a fulfilling spiritual life, are crowding into the plans. When a person yields up limited human reasoning to divine wisdom, it becomes clear that a bright future is assured. As Science and Health explains: "Man, governed by immortal Mind,is always beautiful and grand. Each succeeding year unfolds wisdom, beauty, and holiness" (p. 246).

No matter how disquieting a situation can seem, Love is there to heal and lead the way out of it. The Bible is filled with stories that demonstrate the wisdom and effectiveness of God's guidance. For example, Abraham had no idea what his future held, but at God's directing, he left his homeland to venture into unknown lands. Likewise, Noah, not knowing why, followed God's directions and built an ark that saved his family from a flood. Centuries later, Joseph followed God's leading and took Mary and the baby Jesus to safety in Egypt. Paul responded to the voice of the Christ after he was blinded on the road to Damascus. Perhaps most profoundly, Jesus looked to God through every step of his ministry, showing the essential role that trusting a divine power beyond one's own plays in healing the ills of the world.

In each of these cases, and in so many more throughout the centuries, those who trusted God, even when nothing in their lives looked promising or even sure, all discovered grace and protection.

It's worth noting, too, how each learned to act on God's guidance through the practice of listening for it. Jesus often left the company of others in order to commune alone with his heavenly Father. Even at the Last Supper, with his disciples gathered around him, Jesus separated himself. Mary Baker Eddy described the scene this way: "Jesus prayed; he withdrew from the material senses to refresh his heart with brighter, with spiritual views" (Science and Health, p. 32). This "refreshing of the heart" is central to being "in tune" with our Father-Mother's precious communications.

As we prepare lists of resolutions, looking forward to a brighter, more meaningful, and spiritually rewarding year, let's also remember the most important kind of renewal—the refreshing and regenerating revitalization that deep, attentive prayer brings. It's worth taking time to listen for that "still, small voice" that will unfailingly "inspire, illumine, designate, and lead the way" in paths that are uniquely suited to every individual, everywhere.