Has 2020 improved our vision? Will our lives be that much different at 12:01 on January 1, 2021? Everyone (except Amazon, mask makers, and Plexiglas makers) is looking forward to vaccinations and a return to life as usual. But will relief and joy for a recovery from 2020 quickly be overshadowed by fear, worry, or anxiety about what might threaten our life next?
Is there a remedy for always and ever so quickly looking past all the good already given to us with fear about what might be next? Should God’s enduring faithfulness to provide for us make us more afraid that He won’t or confident that He will?
The corruption of human nature, like a drowning person, is never at peace, no matter how much buoyancy God provides. How about a life preserver? Good . . . but what if it won’t hold me up or if I let go of it? How about a life boat? Better, but what if I fall out or the boat sinks? How about a cruise ship? Awesome! But what if I can’t get off because of a pandemic or what if I fall off? We can’t negotiate with such a nature but we can put a rock under it. A whole Bible’s worth of the history of God providing for His people is a powerful, constant witness that raises us up out of the sea of fear, anxiety, and worry.
Interestingly, that same Word of God regenerates our souls. A soul thus regenerated by the Word of God in the image of Christ has the peace of God that surpasses all human understanding. A soul honest about dependence on God is constantly and keenly aware of how dependable God is. Here, we not only continue to enjoy all the good that God has already done for us and is doing for us right now, but from that vantage point we look forward to realizing God’s grace and goodness to us in every day to come, and then for all eternity.
Jesus said that the joy He gives is the kind that no one can take away. Every day, no matter where we are on the calendar, is a day that brings blessings to us as surely as Jesus rose from the dead, lives forever, and loves to draw us to Himself.