A New Year typically offers a feeling of anticipation. Maybe you are determined to follow your resolution this year, maybe you're trying to leave toxic situations behind, or maybe you're just full of curiosity for what the next 12 months might bring. Whatever the situation, change seems inevitable.
For some of us, change offers a sense of hope. This past year could have been a year of heart break, financial trouble, or even a sense of complacency or straying in your faith. While you may not can leave those memories, situations, or consequences completely behind you, a new year offers motivation to turn your situations over to Christ and find hope that He will deliver His promises.
When thinking about hardships you have been through this past year, it's comforting to realize that God never hid that we would experience hardships, but instead He promises to bring light to any situation.
Psalms 30:5 says "Weeping may stay for the night, but joy comes with the morning".
Not only does each new year bring an opportunity for hope, but each new DAY does as well. Ecclesiastes 3 talks about how there is a time for everything. While you may be in a period of mourning, God promises that while there is a time for this, there is also a time for laughter, dancing, and a time to heal. No matter what your past year has looked like, God's promise from Romans 8:28 remains constant: "We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose".
Maybe the upcoming change brings a sense of fear rather than hope. Change can be scary: You might be leaving one stage of life and entering the next. For example, you could be graduating college and entering the adult world, becoming a parent for the first time, or realizing you're being called into taking a crazy risk for Christ. Maybe your fear comes from the unknown: not knowing when or if that new relationship will work out, not knowing where you will have to move for a job, just simply not knowing what's ahead. You may be dreading leaving that city, person, or job that you love. While you may not know, God does.
Psalm 146:6 says: "He is the Maker of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them-- He remains faithful forever".
God made the sun, stars, the plants, animals, and most importantly- YOU! He knows your needs, desires, fears, and hopes. You are truly known by Him, even when you don't know what is ahead.
Seasons change, years change, and you change. However, no matter what your past year looked like or how you feel about the upcoming months, one thing remains the same: Christ.
"I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty". (Revelation 1:8)
Since the Lord is forever, so are His promises. If there is one part of my future I am confident of, it is that He has it under control- and that is all I could hope for.
"'For I know the plans I have for you', declares the Lord, 'Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future'". (Jeremiah 29:11)
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