“What’s your New Year’s Resolution?” It’s that time again. Everyone is asking. Some of us ignore them. Some of us have different ones every year. And some of us, who shall remain nameless, have the same one lose weight year after year.

In the last couple of years we really struggled with some behavior issues with our son, Evan. We had no choice but to become quite open about them. People were starting to notice we weren’t coming to the parties, church, Target, or even leaving the house much at all. Our behavior as a family had to change dramatically. In that openness, we asked for prayer. We began praying. It was really a constant prayer every day and night pleading for God to change Evan’s demeanor. We prayed, searched, asked, and let others know of our situation.

It has been a slow change, but Evan has come to a place of living without so much disagreement, to put it mildly. What was the cure, you ask? The magic pill? I have to wonder if opening our need up to others was part of the answer. By asking others to go before God in prayer on our behalf we give God the opportunity to show his glory. John Piper said it well here. He reminds us our whole purpose is to draw attention to God. 1 Peter 2:9-10 says it so well: “… that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light … once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.” What better way to tell people about this than how God has worked in our trials. And we can’t do that if we keep quiet about our trials.

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