One year ends, another year dawns. Is there a real difference between the old and the new year? Why do people make the so-called New Year’s resolutions? There are 7 days each week, 12 months, 52 weeks, and 365 days each year. Except one extra day tacked on to February every four years giving that year 366 days.
Having said that, doesn’t the basic routines of life remain the same year after year? For instance, the sun rises in the east and sets in the west, we eat, drink, sleep, wake, work (if we have a job), and on it goes. So then, what really changes?
Looking forward to each new year can be rewarding, inspiring or even exciting, especially if one has plans to implement or projects to accomplish. Others may regard a new year as just another year with its stress, trials, tribulations, and uncertainties.
There are things many of us don’t plan for or expect. For instance, no one could have accurately predicted the deadly COVID-19 which upended plans, hurt the economy, taken our livelihood, destroyed our health, and prematurely ended our lives.
However, there are lessons to be learned from these unpleasant situations. One is that no mortal man controls the future. Only God does. The Bible says, “Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring.” (Proverbs 27:1). We also read, “What is you life? For you are a mist that appears for little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” (James 4:14,15).
So uncertain and frail life is that it is likened to a mist. God is showing us the brevity and uncertainty of human life. Job said, “My life is a breath.” (Job 7:7). No one knows human life more than God Himself who created it. No man is able to foresee what lies ahead.
Of course there are those who falsely claim they can “see into the future,” and tell you what they think will happen to you. They do this by “reading” lines in the palm of your hands. People have lost lots of money believing these false claims. Be warned, “Do not take to heart all the things that people say.” (Ecclesiastes 7:21).
Part of the problem is that man in his proud and arrogant way tries to convince himself and others that he is an authority on the future. Here is God’s response, “As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil.” (James 4:16). A personal question we might ask ourselves is “am I taking too much for granted by thinking and believing this physical world exists just for me?” That would be foolhardy.
Since time keeps moving on, we need to pay attention to God’s word, and trust Him to lead and guide us through each passing day that He lends us breath. Only He knows when earthly life will end. As Creator of the universe, God is the very source of life itself.
Isaiah 42:5 says, “Thus says God, the LORD, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and what comes from it, who gives breath to the people on it and spirit to those who walk in it.” This means that God is in control of the universe He created. And since He is in control, shouldn’t we have full confidence in Him to lead, guide, and sustain us in the future. We certainly have His guarantee “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” (Hebrews 13:5).
As we embark upon each new year, we are not compelled to make “resolutions,” which is a waste of time for those who fail to keep them. A far better approach to the new year is by prayerfully committing to God your hopes and aspirations, and also seek His help and guidance in the future. God is dependable. “Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?” (Numbers 23:19). God will perform what He declares in His word. The Christian’s hope for the future is complete reliance on God Almighty.
Let us be encouraged and inspired by what Paul declared about his faith, hope, and desire: “I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead. I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:13,14). This indeed should be our hope as each year comes and goes — the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
If our lives are spared for all the new years that lie ahead, be assured that God will keep and perform His promises. Only trust and obey. King David said: “The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer.” (Psalm 18:2). God is always near to deliver goodness and mercy. Have faith in the Almighty.
Dear Father, let it be,
In working or in waiting,
Another year with Thee.