By Lois Hewitt

2024…One for the record books!  It’s funny every January 1st, you think about the new year.  Making resolutions and planning.

We never know what roads we will take, the obstacles we will endure or the curveballs we will encounter.  It is so unknown and seems so random.

In today’s world, it is very easy to focus on the parts we don’t like.  The news and other sources of information just love to set a doomsday motif.  Fear is everywhere.

I get caught up in all the fear mongering too.  I look around and wonder how things are going to unfold.  I worry and fret.

Well, that’s the wrong way to look at it.  My belief tells me that God has a plan. That He is not thrown off by any curveballs.  His plan, according to His Word, is for good!

As we look around at the year past and wonder about the year ahead, it is hard to see the good.  But maybe, just maybe, our line of sight is slightly off.  I know mine is.

I need to remember Christmas is in just a few days.  Christmas per the world is all about gifts and extra activities. It’s about overdoing and exhaustion.

Truth is it is the day we celebrate the birth of Jesus.  Jesus came to earth as man and God to fulfill a need in the world.  A need for salvation.  A need for cleansing of sins.  A need for a new way to live.

His birth marked the beginning of those changes.  He came to save a world that many did not necessarily think needed saving. Many enjoyed their sin and wanted nothing to do with Him.

Many thought He would come to save His people from the oppression of the ruling class here on earth.  But His plan was much more than that.

He was born to save an entire world from sin.  He was born to bring mankind closer to God as the ultimate blood sacrifice.  He was born to show us how to live in love.  How to go to Him for strength and patience. He changed everything with His birth. That’s what we are celebrating.

If I concentrate on that and His Word, I can see peace within my reach.  But when I veer off and start looking at the world, His peace is obscured. So it’s really a matter of what I choose to look at.  Him or the world.

Sometimes the world is so overwhelming. There is pain of every variety, past and present.  There is pure uncertainty for the future.   My eyes are focused on the wrong things.

Yes, the uncertainty will continue into the new year and beyond.  But Jesus stays the same always.  He is the pillar of strength I need to focus on.  He is pure compassion, which I need to channel.

He is in control even if the world tells me otherwise. He is my rock.  He is my calm in the storm.  He is my steadfast presence when I am afraid and unsure.

I need to stop looking away from Him.  Stop looking to the world for solutions. I need to focus on Him and gather my courage from Him.

The world is still going to be scary and unpredictable. But I need to remember that He is not startled or thrown off by the world’s manipulations. He is in control of the new year and always. 

As this year’s door closes and next year’s door opens, I pray that Jesus is in our sight more than the world.

I pray that we can hold tight to His strength in the bumpy nights. Look to Him when the way is not clear.  That we can be filled with His peace and joy no matter what the world throws at us.

A new year and a new perspective. I pray that as the clock ticks into another year that your eyes will be on the One born on Christmas. The One who loves mankind so much He died on a cross.  That your comfort and strength comes from Him today and forever.

Blessings for the new year!