2020.
A global pandemic. Quarantine. Isolation. Social unrest. Political tension. Turmoil. Grief. Loss.
I don’t think anyone could have guessed what last year would entail when we all rang in the New Year with “2020 vision.” It just seemed like it was one bad thing after another, didn’t it?
By the end of 2020, I saw lots of posts shared on social media about 2021. Words like “Nobody make a sound. Let’s all go into 2021 with our heads down and don’t touch anything.” Or comments like “I can’t wait to leave everything behind in 2020,” and “I just hope 2021 is better than 2020.”
But what if it isn’t?
Does the clock striking midnight and the changing of a couple numbers fix all our problems?
Does Covid-19 suddenly disappear? No more government mandates? No more wearing masks and social distancing? No more losing loved ones in isolation?
Does society all of the sudden become the utopia everyone dreams of? No more racism? Sexism? Cynicism? Brutality? Political arguments?
Every New Year, we set goals, make resolutions or create “focus words”—and none of these things are necessarily bad. But how much hope are we putting into a year? Into a date? How often do you get discouraged when your resolutions start to fade by February? Or do you just tell yourself that there’s always next year?
Jeremiah 17:7 says, “Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, and whose hope is the LORD.”
2020 was a HARD year for everyone. But if we choose to put our hope in 2021, I’m afraid it will leave us all still feeling defeated, because a date doesn’t change anything.
God changes things. He changes everything. He is in total control, even when the world feels completely out of control.
So, I challenge you to put your hope in Jesus. Not a date.
Everyday that you wake up, is a new opportunity to serve and further the Kingdom. How will you choose to use it?
“Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit [which] was given to us.” - Romans 5:5
Ashlie Freeman