THE GATE OF THE NEW YEAR


“What then shall we say to these things?  If God is for us, who can be against us?  He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?”—Romans 8:31-32
        

            We do not know what the New Year will bring for us or what we will encounter.    Many national and international prophets have raised their voices to herald the message of the Lord to all that will have ears to hear.  My heart is heavy for the suffering Christians and humanity around the world.  The needs of people press on my heart so that the cause of Christ will be made known.  What things are pressing on your heart?  Is the pain of the past?  Past failures, past attempts, unkind words, past disappointments?  New can never truly begin until we let go of the past and turn our focus to the promise of the future. 

 
            Every year begins with promise, so does every day.  I agree with what Lisa Hodges wrote, “Life begins each morning…Each morning is the open door to a new world – new vistas, new aims, new tryings.”  I think that we should see each year as a fresh beginning and reset our focus.  Let’s do what the prophet Isaiah wrote, “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.  See, I am doing a new thing!  Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?  I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland” (43:18-19).

 
            As we begin this New Year, let’s remember the words that Minnie Haskins penned in her poem "God Knows".

            “I said to a man who stood at the gate of the year, ‘Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown.’  And he replied, ‘go out into the darkness and put your hand in the hand of God.  That shall be to you better than a light and safer than a known way.’”

As we enter the New Year, I pray that the Most High Gods' Almighty Hand will guide and uphold us all.

 
Prayer—Lord I ask that Your Almighty Hand guide and uphold me.  Help me to let go of the past and embrace all that You have for me.  I ask that You reveal Yourself to me in a way that I can fully understand Your will and Your ways, in Jesus Name. Amen.