Last night as the clock ticked from 11:59 PM to 12:00 AM, signaling not only a new day, but a new year, I could almost hear a global sigh of relief that 2020 was over! Did you hear it?
It was a year like no one has every experienced for so many reasons. Yet, as the clock ticked to 2021, I was thanking the Lord for His grace, mercy, and enabling strength.
I heard a lady interviewed last night on the news. She was asked, “Are you excited to begin the new year?” The lady responded, “No! Even though the new year is here, nothing has really changed. That makes me fearful, sad, and depressed.” A man they interviewed said, “We’re starting down a path and we don’t know what is ahead!” (As if we ever could!)
Isn’t it interesting that the fact that “nothing has really changed” will be the reason some are fearful, sad, and depressed, when the fact that “nothing has really changed” is the reason I, and all Christ-followers, can walk with confidence into the new year!
When I say “nothing has really changed,” I mean that God is sovereign and his kingdom rules over all (Psalm 103:19). He has not changed; He is the same yesterday and today and forever (Hebrews 13:8).
As this new year beings Philippians 3:13-16 is on my heart:
Brothers, 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. Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. Only let us hold true to what we have attained.
These things reminded me of a wonderful old hymn written in 1874 by Frances R. Havergal, Another Year is Dawning.
Sing with me my 2021 prayer of hope and faith in God:
Another year is dawning, dear Father, let it be
In working or in waiting, another year with Thee;
Another year of progress, another year of praise,
Another year of proving Thy presence all the days.
Another year of mercies, of faithfulness and grace,
Another year of gladness in the shining of Thy face;
Another year of leaning upon Thy loving breast;
Another year of trusting, of quiet, happy rest.
Another year of service, of witness for Thy love,
Another year of training for holier work above;
Another year is dawning, dear Father, let it be
On earth, or else in Heaven, another year for Thee.
All Scripture is from the English Standard Version of The Holy Bible
Fireworks Image by Free-Photos from Pixabay
Path image by Albrecht Fietz from Pixabay
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