Here Comes the New Year
for The Hanford Sentinel
Here it comes again. The New Year is just around the corner and with it have come all the reflective retrospectives of the past year and the cautiously hopeful forecasts of the coming year. Many have been anxious to bid adieu to 2009 and to its economic downturns, financial scandals and political and celebrity meltdowns. Uncertainty has been one of the main hallmarks of the year—uncertainty about job security, uncertainty about keeping the house, uncertainty about financial investments and retirement and uncertainty about what the future holds.
But now we stand on the brink and look to a new year. We stand at the door and knock on the door of the future and wonder if it will be any different. On the one hand we are anxious to cross the threshold between yesterday and tomorrow, and on the other we are hesitant to rush in with too much optimism lest the future be no different than the past. We have been disappointed before, dare we hope for a better tomorrow?
I believe that we can hope for a better tomorrow. More than that, we should believe that tomorrow will in fact be brighter and better. But this shouldn't be a blind hope. I am not suggesting wishful thinking or positive self-talk. This hope must be based on a firm and solid foundation that is unswayed by sagging economic indicators and lousy housing markets. This hope must be based on something that is solid no matter what the surrounding conditions may be.
That is the great thing about trusting in God. He is not challenged by what challenges us. He delights in taking difficult circumstances and transforming them into divine victory celebrations. With God, "how pleasant it is to see a new day dawning" (Ecclesiastes 11:7 NLT). Peter reminds us that we can "cast all our cares on Him because He cares for us (1 Peter 5:7 NKJV). In Him we are more than conquerors and able to face whatever the world may throw our way (Romans 8:37 NKJV).
So whatever 2010 may hold for our country economically—be it a quick recovery or a downward spiral—if we put our eyes firmly on Him, we can be assured that He will keep care of us. This is one of the things that gets missed frequently in media and political circles. The solutions to challenges as vast as those confronting our world today are rarely found in human wisdom. That's why even the best thinkers in the world are constantly proved wrong.
The moment we put our faith in human wisdom, we have misplaced our trust. Human wisdom is great, but God's wisdom is best. So when it comes to the new year, believe the best, not because it will make you feel better (even though it will) but because when you trust in God, it will be better!
The pastors in Kings County would love to talk to you more about the good things God has in store for you this year. Why don't you plan on shifting your thinking this year and focus on the One who is always solid and secure?
Here it comes again. The New Year is just around the corner and with it have come all the reflective retrospectives of the past year and the cautiously hopeful forecasts of the coming year. Many have been anxious to bid adieu to 2009 and to its economic downturns, financial scandals and political and celebrity meltdowns. Uncertainty has been one of the main hallmarks of the year—uncertainty about job security, uncertainty about keeping the house, uncertainty about financial investments and retirement and uncertainty about what the future holds.
But now we stand on the brink and look to a new year. We stand at the door and knock on the door of the future and wonder if it will be any different. On the one hand we are anxious to cross the threshold between yesterday and tomorrow, and on the other we are hesitant to rush in with too much optimism lest the future be no different than the past. We have been disappointed before, dare we hope for a better tomorrow?
I believe that we can hope for a better tomorrow. More than that, we should believe that tomorrow will in fact be brighter and better. But this shouldn't be a blind hope. I am not suggesting wishful thinking or positive self-talk. This hope must be based on a firm and solid foundation that is unswayed by sagging economic indicators and lousy housing markets. This hope must be based on something that is solid no matter what the surrounding conditions may be.
That is the great thing about trusting in God. He is not challenged by what challenges us. He delights in taking difficult circumstances and transforming them into divine victory celebrations. With God, "how pleasant it is to see a new day dawning" (Ecclesiastes 11:7 NLT). Peter reminds us that we can "cast all our cares on Him because He cares for us (1 Peter 5:7 NKJV). In Him we are more than conquerors and able to face whatever the world may throw our way (Romans 8:37 NKJV).
So whatever 2010 may hold for our country economically—be it a quick recovery or a downward spiral—if we put our eyes firmly on Him, we can be assured that He will keep care of us. This is one of the things that gets missed frequently in media and political circles. The solutions to challenges as vast as those confronting our world today are rarely found in human wisdom. That's why even the best thinkers in the world are constantly proved wrong.
The moment we put our faith in human wisdom, we have misplaced our trust. Human wisdom is great, but God's wisdom is best. So when it comes to the new year, believe the best, not because it will make you feel better (even though it will) but because when you trust in God, it will be better!
The pastors in Kings County would love to talk to you more about the good things God has in store for you this year. Why don't you plan on shifting your thinking this year and focus on the One who is always solid and secure?
posted by Andrew Cromwell at
10:40 AM
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