What Lies Ahead

2016 is here. We did not ring it in with fanfare around here. In fact, I went to sleep well before midnight.. I didn't watch the ball drop. I did awake around 2:00 a.m. Brenda was still up watching a movie. She asked for her kiss which I gave  and then went back to sleep.

Today many people start this new year with high hopes for blessings, peace, prosperity and good things. Truth is none o fuss knows what lies ahead. We think and hope we do but there are things that are out of control. Things we could never foresee coming.

I know many people that started 2015 with high hopes but by the end of the year it proved to be the hardest year of their lives. 2015 brought sickness, disease, and multiple deaths for some families. This past year people I love suffered severely. From their anguish they cried out to God and things turned even worse instead of getting better. Their faith was tested. They endured this holiday season. They managed smiles but I know they were relieved to see the year fade into history.

We can know in 2016 God wants to reveal Himself more to His people. He will do this through daily devotions, corporate worship, Christian books and messages from pastors. It is my prayer to start the new year with a hunger for more of God. May all our appetites increase for Him. All through this year may we yearn for more of Him and crave more of Him. May we not be easily satisfied with anything less than knowing Him.

We can also know in 2016 God will draw more people for salvation. This is a fascinating thought. There will be men, women, teenagers ad children that will come to know salvation through Jesus at some point this year. It might happen at home with parents talking to their children. It might happen during a Sunday morning worship service in response to hearing the gospel message. Some will be saved at camps, revivals, retreats, and Vacation Bible Schools. Many will be saved on the mission field. Family members and friends will come to know the Lord this year as you continue to pray and witness. That is cause for rejoicing. That is a reason to hope.

Prayers will be answered in 2016. Some will be big. Some will not seem like a big deal at the time but they will still be answered prayer. God will strengthen for the battles we face this year. He will renew our minds as we fix them on Him. He will move some mountains we thought would never be moved. He will open some doors we thought would never be opened. He will provide when we need it. He will give us peace in the hardest circumstances. He will guide our steps.

He will forgive our sin and keep up His sanctifying work in us. He will call us to holy living. He will chastise us if we rebel and stray from Him. He will deal with us in grace and with tender mercies. He will not call us to do anything He will not equip us to be able to do and to endure. He will not leave us or forsake us one day for even a single moment in 2016.

I don't know about you but these truths comfort me. I do not know what lies ahead this new year. I don't know what new people I will meet. I am unaware of what encounters I will have with God this year. I cannot foresee what trials I will have to overcome. I have no way of knowing what God will call me to do this year.

What I do know is God already sees every single moment of 2016 for me, for you, for this nation and for people all over the world. He already knows what He purposes to do. He already foresees what will happen. He is well aware of each new child that will be born as well as those that will die. He knows everything and He is in control. Because of that truth we can all enter into 2016 with hope.

I have looked ahead into this new year. God is already there. He is here today and He is already there on December 31, 2016 no matter what lies ahead.