My New Year Hope

It’s January 1st and there is an expectation that we should feel hopeful for new beginnings. After a year like we’ve had however, it can be hard to feel optimistic.

So on this first day of 2021, I find myself extra grateful for God‘s word. Because when we feel hopeless, His word breathes life into our burdened hearts. God’s word is alive and speaks to us personally (Hebrews 4:12).

One scripture that has always been very near and dear to me is Psalm 27. In some of my darkest days the Lord used this Psalm to lift me up out of a pit of darkness.

My hope this New Year is found in God‘s word

In verse 4 the psalmist says, “One thing I have desired of the LORD, That will I seek: That I may dwell in the house of the LORD All the days of my life, To behold the beauty of the LORD, And to inquire in His temple.“

And in verse 5 it says, “For in the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion; In the secret place of His tabernacle He shall hide me; He shall set me high upon a rock.”

It’s a new year, and for many that feels like a new start – and it is. However, the truth is that every morning is a new start. Every moment of every day we get to decide to live in the house of the Lord – to live in His presence and to allow Him to hide us in the shelter of His secure wings.

2020 was a hard year for most of us. It wasn’t just the pandemic that created fear and anxiety, but also the civil and political unrest in our nation. On top of this many felt lonely and isolated, abandoned. I find myself thinking of the Israelites and the shepherds. They too endured some very hard dark days. They must’ve often felt sad, afraid, abandoned… hopeless.

Yet God had not left them. He had a plan.

Faith and hope are pivotal to trusting God in hard times. 2020 was a year of testing. It was one of the most difficult years in our lifetime. These are the trials of life that challenge our faith. Where is our hope when we see no answers? What are we standing on when life is chaotic? I pray for you and I that we would seek and find our hope in Jesus Christ. May the cry of our hearts be like that of the psalmist in Psalm 27:

“The one thing I ask of the Lord—
the thing I seek most—
is to live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life,
delighting in the Lord’s perfections
and meditating in his Temple.” (Psalm 27:4)

None of us know what is in store for 2021. But we do know that no matter what may come God will never fail us nor for sake us. So let us keep surrendering our worries, feelings and doubts to the one who is Faithful and True. As you abide and trust in Him, His presence will become more and more real to you and you feel find lasting peace.

“For he will conceal me there when troubles come;
    he will hide me in his sanctuary.
    He will place me out of reach on a high rock.” (Psalm 27:5)

I encourage you to read Psalm 27 and meditate on it. (To read more from God’s word to give you hope click here).

Jesus is alive and He lives with us. I pray you will join me in putting your hope in Him, today and every day ahead of you.

A very blessed new year to you and your loved ones!

“But forget all that—
    it is nothing compared to what I am going to do.
For I am about to do something new.
    See, I have already begun! Do you not see it?
I will make a pathway through the wilderness.
    I will create rivers in the dry wasteland. ~ Isaiah 43:18-19