As we approach 2022, there are many things for us to look forward to as well as remember.  We might look forward to a healthy, prosperous, hope-filled year!  We can look forward to good things, like spending more quality time with our family, maybe losing a few of those unwanted pounds, a secure job (especially if we’re currently out of work), a final finish to the pandemic, and a return to some sort of normal!  If we’re honest, we likely expect the year won’t be perfect.  We know some of our goals may not be met, and some of our dreams might take longer to fulfill than we anticipated.  But we can choose to look forward to the New Year and be confident that it will be filled with joy, hope, love, and peace in spite of all the earthly turmoil.

How can this be?  By remembering as part of our New Year celebration.  I’m not talking about remembering the hurts, pains, sorrows, and disappointments of the past (although looking back at these can sometimes help us learn and grow).  I am talking about remembering the good things told to us in God’s Word and how we have seen it borne out in our lives.  Some promises:

The LORD is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts; so I am helped, and my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to him. (Psalm 28:7)

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. (Hebrews 13:8)

Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. (Heb. 4:16) 

If the Lord is our strength, in the New Year we can face everything through Him, in good times and in times of crisis.  In 2022, no matter how challenging life gets or how threatening the winds of change grow, we know that Jesus, Our Lord and Savior, never changes.  His love is constant.  His grace is sufficient.  Our hope in Him can be real.

Ring in the New Year claiming Jesus’ promises anew, standing on Him, our rock and salvation!  If you have struggled in the last year or so, you are not alone.  We can remember Christ brings hope and joy.  We can declare with the song writer:

You have turned my mourning into dancing; you have taken off my sackcloth and clothed me with joy, so that my soul may praise you and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give thanks to you forever. (Psalm 30:7) 

If you have had a tremendous 2021 and are looking forward to 2022, remember from whom all blessings flow, the Lord God Almighty!

My prayers are with each and every one of you as we move into the year of Our Lord, 2022, together.  May you enjoy God’s richest blessings in Christ!!