New Year, New Opportunities

Photo by Dawid Zawila

As we enter 2021, I’m reminded that each new year brings new opportunities to…

trust the Lord
be faithful in our callings
seek first His kingdom
be merciful, gracious, and kind
forgive and be forgiven
assume the best
practice self-control
be joyful in all circumstances
weep with those who weep
rejoice with those who rejoice
refine our theology by digging deeply into God’s Word
(because what we believe matters!)
and more.

I normally feel excited for a new year to come, but the flip of our virtual calendar to 2021 felt somewhat anticlimactic and a bit nerve-wracking this time around. There was no New Year’s Eve party with friends to close out 2020; we were in bed at our normal time. On New Year’s Day, I received a message from my mom, letting me know that my grandfather, who was put on hospice at his home a couple of weeks before Christmas, would likely not live through the next 24 hours. 2020 didn’t feel like a great year, and 2021 didn’t seem to be starting off on the right foot either. I felt grief as I reflected upon the brokenness of our world and how far it has fallen from what the Lord had originally created.

It’s okay and good to feel grief at the brokenness of our world. This isn’t what the Lord had originally intended. We were made to live in perfect peace and communion with Him, but sin entered the world through Adam and Eve and we currently live in the midst of its repercussions, adding our own sin to the mix along the way. This truth weighed heavily on my heart as I was confronted with my grandfather’s death on January 4, 2021. Humans weren’t meant to die, but the rightful wage for sin is death.

It was in my grief that the Lord met me - through Scripture, through friends and family, and through the truth He has stored in my heart over the years. I was reminded that 2020 was not all bad; the Lord provided and sustained and blessed in many, many ways!! And while the Lord never promised for 2021 to be better than 2020 - it most certainly started off on a sad note for my family and there’s no guarantee it will get better with time given the political, social, economic (and on and on) state of our world - I can live in hope, knowing that God promises to continue to provide, sustain, and bless His people. Even more, I can rest knowing that one day, Christ will return and make all things new! My biggest need has already been accounted for by Christ’s life, death, and resurrection. New life is found only in Him.

So friends, as we enter this new year, I do honestly pray that 2021 will be better than 2020. I pray that life would be preserved, that God’s justice would be enacted, that Christ’s kingdom would reign. But since we still live in the “already, but not yet,” I pray most of all that the Lord would use this year to grow us, sanctify us, and help us to take all of the new opportunities I listed above, knowing that all that we do has eternal consequence. May we make sure to put our hope in the right things (the right One, in fact), storing up our treasures in heaven and not on earth.

Happy New Year, friends!

Much love until next time,
Christy