In God’s Hands

As I wrote this post, it was snowing here on New Year’s Day. Tiger was sleeping on my lap and I was taking a break from putting the Christmas decorations away. It’s been my habit to get back to normal on this day ever since our second son was born. He has a January birthday, and I didn’t want his birthday to still have Christmas decor around the house. Even though he now has a family of his own and no longer lives here, the habit stuck.

But as I tried to force my weary body to do the work, I also did some reading and pondering about the new year.

I’ve seen a lot of New Year’s Days come and go. Of course, this one isn’t like past years because we are starting on the heels of a year we could never have imagined. Will 2021 be any better? When can we go back to normal?

Many have been living in fear this past year, often to the point of not really living. We’ve lost connection with community and that’s a bigger loss than we realize. We’ve lost honesty as we listen to myriad voices all saying different things and we no longer know who to believe.

We’ve lost freedom because we’ve been forced to follow lockdown rules that have destroyed small businesses and overwhelmed the delivery companies. Not to mention the rifts in some relationships and job losses and a feeling of being trapped. It’s caused mental health issues to skyrocket.

We’ve lost the art of compassion and given in to the temptation to complain about every little thing because we are tired of it all. We want control of our lives back.

These losses make me weary too. I realize I don’t control much, but I would like the ability to go out and about freely without seeing roadsigns flashing at me to wear a mask. I want to hug my friends and family without wondering if I might catch a cold or the virus or a new strain of virus or the flu…name your contagious disease. We didn’t worry about those things a year ago. Should we now? I wonder.

I’ve said before that I don’t believe we should live in fear of these things, and today as I read a devotional by Corrie Ten Boom, who survived a Nazi concentration camp, I realized that this is the reason. “Our times are in His hands.” Whether they are good or bad times, we are still in God’s hands.

2020 took us all by surprise. And it changed us – not always in positive ways. It brought grief and anger and frustration and polarized opinions. For some, it brought faith and a new realization that God was still good even in hard times. For others…faith isn’t on their radar…at least not right now. I would clarify, when I say faith, I mean faith in God, not in ourselves, our government, our scientists, or anything else. Why? Because God is the only one of that entire group who is truly trustworthy.

God promises to never leave us or forsake us. He’s talking to those who love and trust Him. But if we aren’t there yet…or if we think we were but left what we once believed…then we can’t know the peace those promises of God bring.

I remember about 21 years ago, my mother-in-law spent Christmas with us, but we all knew that she was fading fast. We didn’t realize how fast until we received a call on January 4th to come. She’d had a heart attack and went to be with Jesus two days later. It’s not the way most of us want to start a year. (For us, who grieved, not for her who was set free from pain and is now joyously with Jesus.)

When 2020 came last year, we all had hopes for a normal, prosperous year. But there is no such thing as a typical year. Every day has its own trouble and every year brings the good and the bad and we have no idea on January 1st when all is bright and new, which types of things we will face first. But we will face them.

I hope as I walk through 2021, I remember the lessons of past years. When I think I can’t take any more stress, I hope I remind myself that “my times are in God’s hands.”

It’s human nature to welcome a new year with hope for the better. But may we remember that as bad as 2020 was, it still carried good. As does every year. Any lesson in history would tell us this. But we quickly forget history.

Esther remembered her people’s history when she was faced with a man who wanted to annihilate them. And her cousin urged her to do what she could because her time was then. And she needed to act in that moment.

And our time is now. We only have today. Tomorrow could change everything and we don’t know how. God alone knows the future and the One who knows what tomorrow brings also holds it and us in His hands.

I can’t die one hour before He allows me to. And for all of the searching for a way to live forever, there is only one way to do that – by trusting in Jesus Christ. Believe in Him and declare Him Lord and we can begin a new year in freedom.

Freedom to live this time we’ve been given in peace and faith, not fear. When we are satisfied with Jesus and walk in His light, we have life – abundantly here and forever in eternity.

2021 may be better. I hope so. But it may also bring more trouble. May we be ready for both and realize that whether in good times or in bad, our lives, our times are in God’s hands.

~Selah

#2021 #inGodshands #livegrace #lovetruth #goodorbadGodsgotthis