Another year ends, a new one begins

"There is hope for your future," declares the LORD (Jeremiah 31:17).

Another year is just about over. What did you learn these past twelve months? Are you wiser than you were a year ago? Are you happier? Are you more patient, more understanding, more forgiving than you used to be?

What has happened in your life? Did your family grow through weddings or births, or did it shrink because of death? Did you find work that you enjoyed, or was 2006 a year of transition for you? Have you enjoyed good health, or has the recent past been a struggle?

When New Year’s Eve rolls around, some people look back on the ending year with a touch of nostalgia; others are just glad the year is over with, and fervently hope that the coming months will be better. But the underlying question that no one can truly escape is this: what does it all mean? Why did 2006 unfold the way that it did? What real hope is there that 2007 will be any better?

2006 was filled with good and bad. The bad things happened because we are all plagued with evil desires and the inability to keep those desires under constant control. Bad things happened because of our dark desires, or the dark desires of those who victimized us. But the good things that we experienced came from God, the God who made us and who loves us. He showed His love through the hands and voices of those who served Him; He showed His love through the invisible care of His angels; He showed His love through miracles ranging from subtle to awesome, small to overwhelming.

The outlook for 2007 remains the same. It will be a year of terrible disappointments and gut-wrenching sorrow, because the world is filled to overflowing with sin. But it will also be a year of victory snatched from defeat, unexpected joy in the midst of sorrow, reassuring peace and hope found in the ruins of shattered lives. Sin will still be evident everywhere, but God will also be at work through His Son Jesus, forgiving the despairing, mending broken hearts, giving healing where doctors have given up all hope, and welcoming the dying into a place where they will never again know pain or sorrow. We can expect 2007 to be another year in which Satan tries to wear us down with evil, but the light of God’s grace in Jesus will rescue those who believe, and give them reason to live through the coming year with joy in their hearts.