Hope for the New Year

My absolute fav:

I know a lot of people’s favorite holiday is Christmas. Many will say that Thanksgiving is their favorite. But, I’m always given curious looks when I share with people that New Year’s is my absolute favorite holiday of the year. My eyes light up and I get almost giddy with excitement, anticipating the turning of the calendar! What surprises are waiting for us in the new year, just around the corner – out of our sight now, but already carefully planned out waiting for the appointed time to pop out of nowhere. As we go about daily life – what good things will sweep us off our feet in this new chapter of life?

When people ask me, “Why? Why would New Year’s be your favorite holiday? Aren’t you a Christian? Shouldn’t your favorite be a religious holiday or something?”

My response has usually been, “Oh, but it IS sort of a religious holiday to me! I’m never more filled with hope and faith than I am at New Year’s. I’m filled with an anything-is-possible outlook and a sense that I’m about to dig into a brand new chapter of a great book, and I can’t wait to gobble it up and find out what twists and turns will happen next…. Plus, this enneagram 1w2 loves lists, goals, and fresh starts!”

I had a friend challenge me one year, by sharing with me that it is hard for her to understand my enthusiasm and hope that gets supercharged at this time of the year, every year. She asked me, “Isn’t January 1^st just like any other day? It just marks the end of the holidays and the return to normal routine. Nothing really changes when we flip the calendar into a new year. It is just another regular day. What makes it so special? Shouldn’t you have just as much hope and faith in April or July or October as you do now in January?”

… which led me on a journey of pondering why? Why is it that I’m SO EXCITED every time New Year’s comes around? IS there something special about this particular time of year that makes it easier to deep-down truly believe His goodness is following me (Ps 23:6), He has plans to prosper me (Jer 29:11), and that I don’t have to fear the future but can laugh at the days to come (Prov 31:25)?

WHY?

So, I began to pray and ask the Lord another one of my “why” questions, and guess what?! He showed me that actually, yes… Yes, there is a reason why it is easier to be hope-filled at this time of year! The first thing that He showed me was simply pointing out that we just spent an entire month focused on Immanuel, God with us. We have sung it in our Christmas carols, we have driven past the nativity scenes in yards and churches declaring that He came, and He is here! Our entire culture has been saying it, focused on it (whether consciously or subconsciously), marinating on the truth: Immanuel, which literally means God is WITH us. Immanuel, God is WITH us. He is WITH us. Marinating on that, and soaking in it has got to increase your hope and faith, knowing that as you step into a new chapter, He is WITH you. No matter what comes your way. We have been building up our faith muscle for a full month, without even realizing it! I can face tomorrow because I know (more than any other time of the year because I’ve been singing it and saying it for an entire month) that Immanuel is WITH me, and I’m not facing the unknown alone. Billions of people have been celebrating this fact, shouting out: He is here! He is with us! Gosh, no wonder I’m so full of faith by the time January comes!

But then… it gets even better! He began to show me that New Year’s is very much connected to the entire holiday season in a much greater, significant way than many of us realize! I heard Him whisper to my heart, “I am the One who was, the One who is, and the One who is to come!”

3 Holidays: paralleling WHO He is – in the past/present/future

Thanksgiving: the holiday where we take time to look behind us, to reflect on our blessings, to remember the year we are wrapping up and give our thanks for His faithfulness. He is the God of the past, worthy of celebrating! The One who was…

Christmas: the holiday where we declare He is Immanuel, God with us. He was sent to us, and has restored relationship with mankind so that we are no longer separated, but now are living in this very moment in communion with a God who never leaves us or forsakes us, and is so close, so very near at all times – our very present help. He is the God of the present, worthy of celebrating! The One who is…

New Year’s: the holiday where we look into the future boldly, without fear, full of hope and promise – because we first spent time remembering and rehearsing His goodness and faithfulness to us in our past, and then we spent time remembering and rehearsing His nearness to us now, His promise to always be with us, closer than close… it is because we have spent time reflecting on Him in our past and Him in our present that we can fully celebrate the God of the future, who is worthy of celebrating! The One who is to come…

Celebrate ALL of Him!

By the time January 1^st hits, many of us are tired and partied out from the Holidays, and are ready to put them behind us and get on with life! But, I’d like to challenge you with this: if you cut short the New Year’s celebration, then you are missing out on celebrating ALL of who God is (and wants to be) in your life! We spend weeks prepping for Thanksgiving and focusing the entire month of November on being grateful. We spend almost the entire month of December celebrating Christmas. Yet, New Years is almost skipped over. What if we spent the entire month of January celebrating who God is in the future? What if we thanked Him and worshiped Him for all the things He is going to do this year, all of the ways He is going to grow your heart and character this year, all of the new revelations He is going to teach you and challenge you in, the provision and faithfulness He already has laid out for you, the plans He has to prosper you and give you a hope (that doesn’t let go) and a good future… Do you think if you spent an entire month celebrating the God of the future, it would impact how your new year unfolded? I’m thinking yes!

Application

This is kind of a stretch, but I also was thinking in a bigger picture sense about The Bible, and how it is laid out… One of the main characteristics of The Old Testament is that it is full of stories of His faithfulness in the past, and gives us hope for the future. One of the main characteristics of The New Testament is that it tells of God being with us in the present, and gives us hope for the future. As Christians, if we stop right there and our faith journey is only just about receiving the Old Testament and the New Testament, without looking and applying it towards our future – then, we are missing it! A crucial part of our Christianity walk is not found in the Bible – it is in the future! We have hope in things that are still yet to come! The Bible tells us some clues as to what will happen, and certainly the book of Revelation gives some broad strokes of what is to come. But, we hold in our living hearts the hope and promise that He is coming again, that He will make wrong things right, that we will have eternal life with Him – we grasp onto who He is in future – it is the evidence of our believing.

Feeling hopeless instead of hopeful?

If you are having a hard time being expectant and hopeful of this new year, can I offer a suggestion? Go back and start the cycle again. First, spend time meditating on Him in your past. Rehearse His goodness that you’ve seen towards you. Second, spend time meditating on Him being WITH you, closer than close. Spend as much time as you need in those first two steps, until you feel soaked through. Then, face your future knowing deep down that He is faithful and that He is with you. It is from that place, that you will be able to hold His hand tightly, find true courage and take your hope-filled steps with Him into your bright future!

You never know what GOOD things are waiting for you, just around the corner!