Happy New Year! A new year brings
excitement, it brings anticipation, it brings hope, it brings new
beginnings. But for some of us a new year might bring dread, fear
and anxiety over what lies ahead. Some of you might fear the
unknown and might be scared of the path ahead. Some of you might be
downcast, depressed at the way your life might have turned out,
with no hope that this year will be any better.
Well, I would just like to give you
hope. In Jesus there is always hope. In Him love abounds and in Him
there is everlasting joy. And He gives us His Word to teach us and
to lead us into all truths (All glory to Him!).
Therefore let us look at a couple
of examples in the Bible of several people that gave up hope. Sarah
gave up hope that she will ever have a child. She thought that she
was too old and therefore she gave Hagar to Abraham to bear a child
for her. Ishmael was born as a result. Later on as we know God kept
His promise and gave Sarah her own son, Isaac. But then the trouble
began. The family started fighting amongst themselves and until
today this fighting continues. If only Sarah had kept on believing
that God will deliver on His promises, they would have been spared
a lot of heartache.
Zechariah and Elizabeth gave up
hope that they will ever have children. And when Gabriel appeared
to Zechariah and told him that he will have a son, John, Zechariah
didn't believe him. And due to his disbelief Zechariah couldn't
speak until John was 8 days old. It was therefore almost a year
that Zechariah couldn't speak! If he didn't lose hope he could have
had his voice during that time declaring God's goodness to
them.
Martha and Mary lost hope when
their brother Lazarus died. For four days they mourned for him,
weeping bitterly. And when Jesus came they didn't believe Him when
He said that He will raise him from the dead. But when Lazarus was
raised all sorrow turned into rejoicing! If they kept on believing
in Jesus' miraculous power, they would have been saved from their
bitter mourning.
The disciples lost all hope when
Jesus was crucified. They hid away, behind bolted doors, scared out
of their wits. They lost all hope in the future, forgetting that He
had told them that He will be raised again on the third day. They
should have clung to the hope of His resurrection, but instead they
were suffocating in sadness and fear. But joy was theirs
forevermore because He was raised from the dead! Hope never
disappoints!
And so I can go on with examples.
Hope is always there. Do not despair, but be filled with hope and a
wonderful expectation of good coming your way. This year can be
your best year yet. Trust in God, learn to hear His voice and to
walk in His ways. Spend time in the Word and develop faith, for
faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. The more you
take in of His Word, the more faith you will develop and the more
your situation will change. It will. God has given us faith as a
gift, take it and be filled with more of Him.
This year could be the year of your
breakthrough, the year you have been waiting for. Trust God for it.
Place Him first in your life, number one, and then everything will
fall into place. Do not become desperate, but exalt Him on high.
The more you place Him in an honorary position in your life, the
more breakthroughs you will see.
Smile, rejoice, God is your hope,
and He never disappoints. Glory to Him on high. 2016, here we come,
armed with God's armour, ready for the battle ahead, ready to
glorify Him!
Lord Jesus, we look forward to this
year. Thank you for the opportunities we can know will come our
way, thank you for Your Spirit inside of us leading the way. Thank
you for joy and peace and thank you for being our loving Saviour.
We are so glad that You are by our side. Walk each step with us
Lord, You are our Lord placed on High. Glory in the highest
heavens! Amen