Lessons for the New Year

I think it’s fair to say we were all quite blindsided by 2020. Collectively we can agree it wasn’t the most enjoyable year, and so many were eager to leave 2020 behind and embrace the hope of a new year. I’ve laid in bed many nights and anticipated “New Morning mercies” after a hard day. Hoping for restoration and anticipating goodness has been expertly crafted into the human heart. Longing for these things is the song of all of creation and yet our hearts are eager idol factories. We can become so enamored with a better day that rather than placing our hope in the Creator of that day we place our hope in the turn of a calendar page or the sun rising and setting on terms we feel comfortable and content with.

"We can become so enamored with a better day that rather than placing our hope in the Creator of that day we place our hope in the turn of a calendar page or the sun rising and setting on terms we feel comfortable and content with."

Yet, there’s much to learn in the face of disappointment; revelation of where our heart’s affections lie, where our security is truly found and what we believe about the Author and Sustainer of life. It’s in times of adversity that we grow in wisdom and endurance, and that is praiseworthy and priceless.

Suffering is never wasted for those who are found in Jesus, and there is always something precious to be gleaned from it. Someone once said to me, “We learn far more about life at a single funeral than we would at 10 Birthday parties.” It calls Ecclesiastes 7:2 to mind: “It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for this is the end of all mankind, and the living will lay it to heart.” 

“It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for this is the end of all mankind, and the living will lay it to heart.” -Ecclesiastes 7:2

The overall theme of 2020 could be “Surprised by Suffering” (though R.C. Sproul has claim to that title, which I plan to read this year.) Perhaps 2020 was one of the greatest blessings of our lives in giving us right perspective; who we look to for certainty and security, where our hope lies and how complacent we had grown. Death and suffering are just as present as life and comfort, these are parts of the whole and yet we’re so often caught by surprise and even gripped by indignation. 

Scripture is clear that we shouldn’t be surprised by these things: death, sorrow, poverty, illness, injustice etc. We can certainly grieve these things and continue in the good works prepared for us, but we shouldn’t be surprised and we certainly shouldn’t squander the lessons therein. ”The living will lay it to heart.” If you abide in Jesus not an ounce of suffering is wasted, not a single tear unseen. We are promised comfort in the midst of our sufferings. Let’s not be so eager to forget the pain of 2020 that we also forget the lessons bestowed. 

The uncertain times remind us that we are not in control and we can’t know what the future holds. 

It causes many to question their faith rather than lean into it. “...Shall we actually accept good from God but not accept adversity?….” Job 2:10 NASB

So as we look to the year ahead and map out our goals, pick our word, and make plans, let’s reflect on the lessons we learned in 2020 and carry them with us into the year ahead as we continue to grow. We cannot know what tomorrow brings, but we can know the Author of each day and carry forward with our Hope firmly planted in Him. 

Can I encourage you to write out some of the hardest good lessons you learned from this previous year and allow those to help shape your actions and priorities in this year?

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Romans 15:13 NASB