by Happy New Year to you! You made it through and I did too! I’m so grateful for another year to continue unravelling this gift of our lives.
A new beginning comes with a lot of excitement, hope and prayers for how it should unfold. In the midst of all the expectations and yearnings, there can also be a bit of apprehension that comes with the unknown. Especially with all that is happening globally and in our own backyard, the future might not look like it holds much prospect.
You have probably made resolutions or are in the process of making some. Or you have some goals or a dream you want to see coming to fruition this year.
Most probably you will be spending time in prayer to seek the Father’s will even as you draw up plans or put in place the vision for the year. As you do that, you may get a little anxious about how it’s all going to come together. May be a past failure or unfulfilled expectation weighs heavily on your heart.
No matter the situation as you look forward to the rest of the year, you can trust that our Father in heaven is going to be with you every step of the way when you invite Him.
The very first words of the scriptures remind us exactly why we can trust Him and invite Him to lead and guide us through this year. Every beginning phase always has present the One who was also there in the very first beginning when the heavens and earth were created. He was and is and will always be there. Furthermore He reminds us that He makes known the end from the beginning. Nothing takes Him by surprise. He knows it all, even before it has started.
What might look bleak and uncertain to us is clear to Him and is all working as a part of His grand design.
There are prayers that you have made or promises that God made to you, maybe long forgotten by now or where you have despaired of asking or waiting.
In this new beginning as the year starts, let me encourage you to hope again and wait again. Hold on to your faith, for He who promised is faithful and He will richly reward your confidence in Him. In the fullness of time, God will make it happen. If He has not said ‘no’, then it will surely come to pass.
God’s plans for you and me this year are solid and reliable. He plans to prosper and not harm us, to give us hope and a future. Now, that is a firm foundation on which we can put our trust. In Him we live and move and have our being this year.
In the journey this year, God is for us. He does not leave us to our own devices, though sometimes we insist on getting by ourselves and figuring it out alone. And even then, He is gentle and patient with us and draws us back to Him when we seek Him. We can choose a great start, and that is with God!
(Scripture references have been made from Genesis 1:1, Isaiah 46:10, Hebrews 10:23, 35, Isaiah 60:22, Jeremiah 29:11)
