It’s hard to believe but as of tomorrow, another year will officially be in the history books. If you are planning to accomplish something in 2022, you’d better be doing it quickly.
As we peek into the New Year, we each face different opportunities as well as different challenges. Not one of us knows what tomorrow holds much less the next twelve months, nevertheless, we each have probably done a little thinking trying to size up what’s ahead.
Our past experiences likely color our view of the future with various shades of optimism and fear. Previous difficulties can sometimes make us afraid of the unknown but God’s faithfulness in seeing us through past challenges should remind us that He will never leave us.
Corrie Ten Boom once said that when a train goes through a tunnel and everything gets dark, no one on board jumps off. Each passenger sits peacefully trusting the engineer to get them through safely until the light floods in again.
Ten Boom knew some very dark tunnels in her life including time in a German concentration camp where she watched her dear sister die in front of her. Her father also died in a German prison for protecting Jews from Nazi extermination. In spite of all this, Corrie remained positive, forgave her enemies, and inspired many all around the world.
On our journeys through life, there are dark tunnels, difficult climbs, and dangerous valleys, but our Engineer will steer us safely through each of them and has promised to be with us always. We have no way of knowing what all of 2023’s track may look like, but we know our Engineer and His record is perfect.
The world in which we live is very troubled militarily, financially, politically, and in many other ways. It’s easy to become overwhelmed with it all and become paralyzed with fear as we envision possible derailments.
Jesus, however, advised us not to worry about tomorrow but to have faith in Him as do the birds of the air. The Greek word for worry that He used here is made up of a verb meaning “to divide” and a noun meaning “the mind.” Worry literally divides the mind.
Divided minds are indeed quite troubled as fret over all that could go wrong keeps us disturbed and worked up. But a mind that is consumed with Jesus is unified and fully depends on Him no matter what may come.
The Bible teaches us that our Heavenly Father knows all things. This includes everything that will happen to each of us along our railways in 2023. Although various events will take us by surprise, none will shock Him. Just remembering that He already completely knows our future can be a source of great peace.
For the past many years, my prayer each morning has included the petition, “Lord, help me to remember that nothing’s going to happen to me today that hasn’t gone through Your hands first.” Everything that happens in the New Year will have to go by God’s desk before it can get to us.
The story of Job teaches us that nothing will happen to us this day or this year unless God causes or allows it. Either way He knows and either way He will steer us safely through if we trust Him with the controls of our train engine.
As we contemplate all that the New Year holds, let us face it with faith and joy knowing that a loving God ultimately controls all things. And let’s do all that we can to put a smile on the Engineer’s face each and every day.
New Year’s Blessings, George