Well, it looks like we made it. It’s the last week of the year, Christmas festivities are winding down, and we have one more party holiday to close out the season in New Year’s Eve. This year, 2021, has flown by faster than any year I can remember. It’s usually busyness and too much activity that makes time fly by; I never thought sameness could make that happen too. Trying to pin down when things happened, especially during the times we all stayed home, can be tricky. You need to use some memory context clues. Was it hot or cold outside? Was it sunny or rainy? Was it before or after I watched Tiger King?
In this week, where the collective urge is to say, “That is now January me’s problem to deal with,” I hope you take some time to pause and reflect on the year—even if it feels like it barely happened. When I worked with students, we used to do an exercise called High/Low. You simple reflected on your day, your week, your month, or even your year and asked what a low point of your year was and what was a high point. You don’t need make a fancy chart and rank everything that happened you just take whatever comes to mind.
Most of us will have varying degrees of each experience, which can determine whether we view 2021 as an overall positive or negative year. If you’ve had a great year, praise God, use that joy to help encourage other people. If you’ve had a not-so-great year, that’s okay to admit also. All of us need to lean on the hope that we have that God wants to bless us and draw us closer to his glory.
1 Peter 1:2-9
May grace and peace be multiplied to you.
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5 who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, 7 so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 8 Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, 9 obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
We have hope for the future! Our current circumstances test us, but we know our futures will be filled with glory. Celebrate when you can, and hold strong when you can’t.
May grace and peace be multiplied to you.