29 Dec Five Truths For a Better New Year
One thing we likely all agree on is that 2020 has been a difficult year.
From the pandemic, to the cultural upheaval, to the election, to the re-spike in the pandemic, it has been a difficult year.
It is instinctive for us to want to change the calendar from December to January in the hopes that next year will be a better year. And I confess I share that hope. But what if it doesn’t happen? What if 2021 is not an easier year?
How should a Christian prepare for hard times? I have been wrestling with this question for some months now, and have identified five things that have been helpful to me.
Five Truths for a Better New Year
- Remind yourself of God’s love.
The Lord’s prayer (Matthew 6:9-13) starts out with “Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.” Then it goes on to “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
The order here is essential: if we do not trust God as a loving Father and hallow His name, if we do not honor and revere Him, if we do not trust His character, we will never be convinced that His will is better than ours. If we do not truly say, “hallowed be thy name,” we will never pray, “Thy will be done.” So, trusting in God’s love is a starting point for dealing with trials.
The Bible is unambiguous about God’s love for us.
- For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son… (John 3:16)
- See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! (1 John 3:1)
- Just as a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him. (Psalm 103:13)
So, the starting point for preparing for hard times is to remind ourselves that God loves us. Without this cornerstone, the rest of the foundation will not likely be secure.
- Give up on this world and live for the next.
Alexander Solzhenitsyn, the Russian dissident who spent many years living in a Siberian concentration camp said, “The only way to survive in the Gulag is to give up on this world and live for the next.”
Scripture supports that idea. Colossians 1:1-3 tells us, “If then you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.”
“You have died.” That’s the key. We live in this world. But we are not of this world. We can even enjoy the things that this world gives us. We should. The Bible says, “every good and perfect gift comes down from the father of lights” (James 1:17). But we cannot tie our ultimate happiness to this world. We must tie it to the next world.
- Be willing for trials to last as long as God chooses.
This is a quote that I read recently from Charles Wesley 250 years ago. It struck me as very valuable, because unpleasant things usually last longer than we want them to, longer than it seems necessary, longer than seems reasonable. But sometimes that’s part of the trial. It may not be that the trial itself is so bad, but that it lasts so long. Even though a particular trial is not so severe, yet after a while, you feel you have lost 10 years of your life to a nagging trial, and one can begin to lose heart.
1 Corinthians 10:13 says, “No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.”
So, one of the challenges of preparing for hard times is to be willing for them to last as long as God determines.
But I have found that this only works for me if I add the next points:
- Focus on the benefits of trials.
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- Spiritual Transformation
James 1:2-4, “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.“
Just as physical exercise is the key to greater physical strength, so spiritual trials are the key to greater spiritual strength.
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- Greater Ministry Impact
2 Corinthians 1:3 – 4, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble, with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.“
Going through a given trial can be the key to equipping us to help others who go through trials.
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- Eternal Reward
Romans 8:18, “for I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.”
When going through trials, God rewards us disproportionately for every response of faith and obedience.
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- Deeper Relationship with God
Philippians 3:10, “that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his suffering.”
Often, when we go through something very hard, it gives us a fellowship with other people who have gone through the same hard thing. Jesus suffered more for us than we do for him, yet he didn’t have to. He voluntarily suffered for us because he loves us. As we grasp this, we develop a deep appreciation and gratitude for what he has done for us. A bond of identity is forged with him through our mutual suffering, and we enter into a level of fellowship with him that we cannot know without suffering.
- Focus on pleasing God.
In Matthew 25, the master said to the slave after a good job, “well done.” The last thing I do to prepare myself for hard times is to imagine, when I see Him in heaven, the Lord saying, “Well done.” In fact, I imagine His saying it to me now.
Conclusion
No one of these things works for me. It takes all of them. “Well done,” doesn’t work unless I also remember that God loves me. Being willing for the trial to last as long as God wishes doesn’t work unless I also remember that I am gaining eternal reward the longer it goes. And so on.
And, God is still on the throne.
The most encouraging thing about whatever we are going through is that the Lord is still in control, He is still working out His plan, not only in the world generally, but specifically, in my life. Romans 8:28 says, “We know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, who are called according to His purpose.”
These are five ways He accomplishes the “good” He promises for us.
I hope these Scriptures help. I hope and pray 2021 will be an easier year than 2020. But if it is or isn’t, I hope these five truths will prove valuable to you as we prepare for the new year.
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