New Year Does Not Mean Our trials Are Over {The Atlanta Journal-Constitution}

“Wake us up when 2020 ends! 50 quotes that sum up how everyone feels about the past year.”

The headline preceded an article in Parade magazine, filled with funny and insightful quotes for the year that changed life as we knew it.

I read each quote, amused and sometimes laughing out loud, especially when I came across this anonymous one: “After all the stupid things I’ve done in my life, if I die because I touched my face, I’m gonna be mad.”

You’ve got to give it to the author — that’s pretty good.

Funny sayings aside, I find it interesting that the end of a challenging year is met with a strong expectation that all our troubles vanished when the Time Square ball reached the ground on Jan. 1. Indeed, one does not need to look far to find numerous articles, memes and quotes conveying excitement for the end of 2020.

NOT quite like the Roaring ’20s

The beginning of the decade following WWI was a period in American history of dramatic political and social change, with astounding economic growth and urban development. For the first time in American history, people from coast to coast could buy the same products, listened to the same music, and danced the same dance. It was the birth of “mass culture,” which naturally also brought about social conflicts, significantly as women’s freedoms increased. Even though the “Roaring ’20s” ended with the stock market crash of October 1929, plunging the U.S. economy into the Great Depression, the beginning of the decade was glorious.

While researching information for this column, I looked for blog posts about the new year, written on the first week of January 2020.

Predictions of an exciting 2020 abounded. A writer on a website dedicated to “numerology” predicted: “We’re happy to hear that in numerology, the year ahead is looking stable and bright.”

Hindsight is certainly not 2020 for this author (pun intended).

The hopes and certain “predictions” we had for 2020, coped with our faith and anticipation at the dawn of the new year, make me think of a verse in the book of Lamentations in Scriptures:

“Who has spoken and it came to pass unless the Lord has commanded it? Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that good and bad come?”

It is a concept that is weaved throughout Scriptures, from Genesis to Revelations, as we read about God’s interactions with His people: God is sovereign and is the One who allows both good and evil to happen. Job, the man who was called righteous before God and yet, lost everything, declared these words:

God is sovereign and is the One who allows both good and evil to happen.#MondayMotivation #2020hopes #Newyear2020 Click To Tweet

“I know that you can do all things and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.”

And the apostle Paul penned this hope-filled declaration to the Roman church — a verse that believers through the ages have clung to in times of hardship and despair:

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to His purpose.”

How can a year full of death, sickness, economic challenges and isolation work together for our good?

That answer depends on how we respond to the trials we face. If our response is anger, hopelessness, anxiety, and fear, we may not ever move past the pain of our circumstances. But if we, as Job and Paul, declare our trust that somehow God will work even the worst events for our good and His glory; if we dare to lift our eyes to Heaven instead of recoil in despair, then we may find the peace and insight needed to see beyond our present circumstances.

if we dare to lift our eyes to Heaven instead of recoil in despair, then we may find the peace and insight needed to see beyond our present circumstances. #MondayMotivation #2020hopes #Newyear2020 Click To Tweet

Jan. 1 does not mean the end of our troubles. The pandemic is not over. A new president takes over the White House, and we really do not know what is to come.

Jan. 1 does not mean the end of our troubles. The pandemic is not over. A new president takes over the White House, and we really do not know what is to come. #MondayMotivation #2020hopes #Newyear2020 Click To Tweet

But this — this mighty, firm truth — etched in the hearts and minds of God’s children through the ages, is the only reason we should welcome this new year in hopeful expectation:

God does not change, even if nothing changes in 2021. As James Packer wrote in his book, “Your Father Loves You”: “(God’s) plans are made on the basis of a complete knowledge and control which extends to all things past, present, and future, so that there can be no sudden emergencies or unlooked-for developments to take Him by surprise.”

God does not change, even if nothing changes in 2021. He is the same faithful father who caused America to roar in the 1920s and allowed the world to suffer in 2020. #MondayMotivation #2020hopes #Newyear2020 Click To Tweet

Indeed, God is the same faithful father who caused America to roar in the 1920s and allowed the world to suffer in 2020. Even though we often don’t understand it, we can trust that He will cause even the worst trials to work together for His children’s good … and His glory.

This article was originally published in Patricia’s column for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Saturday, January 1, 2021. To find it on the AJC’s website, click HERE.