Ready for next year?
By: Dr. Jeff Fuller
Alright, enough is enough! If you are like me, you have had your fill of the news which causes you to shake your head, mumble things no one understands and foam at the mouth. You may be one of those who are hothead and others see the steam flowing from your ears, or feel the explosion causing others to run for the hills.
I am not going to bore you with the 2020 litany of news, views, and pros or cons. It gets hard to stomach. Suffice it to say, I was singing Christmas corals the other day and my administrative assistant thought I have finally lost what was left of my mind.
She was shaking her head, saying, “Why? It’s just the beginning of September?”
My reply was simply, “I am trying to get this year over with so we can move on to 2021.”
Many are ready for the new year. Some are already saying, “Bring it on! I’m done with this year!”
I am, I think. That’s the reason those songs are running through my head and coming out of my mouth. But…
Then I started thinking of an old thing I heard my Granny often say, “I’m waiting on the other shoe to drop.”
What will 2021 bring? Do we really want to think about what is behind that door?
In an episode of The Andy Griffith Show, Gomer and Barney have accompanied Andy to a house thought to be haunted in order to retrieve a baseball for Opie. They are told to check the basement while Andy checks the upstairs.
Gomer and Barney hesitantly approach what appears to be a door leading to the basement. They open the door, stand back, and call out, “Anyone down there?” They slap the door shut and Barney announces, “There’s no one down there.”
Then the movie scenes are even better. You see people in a house, there is mayhem going on all around them. Someone approaches a door, checks to see if it is unlocked. The handle turns, the door slowly opens, then a hand or axe or a gun appears and there is a loud cry…and someone is injured or dies.
In both cases, they are cautious about opening that door.
We are a little like that. We are hesitantly approaching January 1, 2021 and fearful what might be on the other side of the door. We have endured so much this year; we are not sure we can face a repeat performance or even a series events worse than what we have had this year.
Yet, life goes on. We may not know what is behind that yearly door. We may not think we can endure a repeat performance. We may be concerned. But we are ready to get this year over with and move on to the next; no matter what may come.
Therefore, we take the words of God to Joshua to heart:
“Be strong and courageous, for you will distribute the land I swore to their fathers to give them as an inheritance. Above all, be strong and very courageous to carefully observe the whole instruction My servant Moses commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right or the left, so that you will have success wherever you go. This book of instruction must not depart from your mouth; you are to recite it day and night so that you may carefully observe everything written in it. For then you will prosper and succeed in whatever you do. Haven’t I commanded you: be strong and courageous? Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:6-9 (HCSB)
This year, next year, whatever year we find ourselves dealing with: He is with us! No fear, no trembling, no anxiety. He will go wherever we go!
“We are pressured in every way but not crushed; we are perplexed but not in despair; we are persecuted but not abandoned; we are struck down but not destroyed. We always carry the death of Jesus in our body, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.” 2 Corinthians 4:8-10 (HCSB)
Until next time…
