The dust has settled on the new year. Some things have changed, some things have remained the same. New government, same divisions. New vaccines, same resistance. New mutations, same pandemic. It can cause mental and emotional whiplash. Not exactly a clean slate to begin with.
I held off writing a new year's blog. I was too distressed and felt it would be a downer. I didn't want to reinforce my state of mind, nor anyone else's who was struggling with events. I had to settle and think. I still follow current news, but not with the same outlook. I'm looking for hope in the midst of what is bleak.
Psalm 23, which I memorized as a child in what was then the required King James Version, says, "Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for Thou art with me." I lost sight of that toward the end of 2020. I focused on everything that seemed evil and dark. To be frank, there is a lot of evil and darkness out there, but while Christians need to be wise as serpents, as Jesus said, we are called to be gentle as doves. It requires due diligence and walking in tandem with the Lord.
My mother's favorite verse, which she could quote easily, was Micah 6:8: "He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God." I see now why she loved it so much. It sums up the bible and the message of Jesus as to how we should conduct ourselves in this world. That is my new year's resolution, though I don't care so much for that terminology. I guess it would be better to say that is my hope. With the grace of God, I will live those words.
This world appears to be spiraling out of control, but we don't have to be a part of the irrationality that seems to be gripping so many people. We have the Holy Spirit and the fruit that comes from living in humility, counting ourselves as servants. Not just of God, but of fallen people who we may perceive as unworthy or truly unloveable. The unjust, the greedy, the haters. Jesus came as a servant and he said we were to be the same.
It is not an easy accomplishment. It will require rigorous honesty and accountability. To trust God and not what our eyes see, or even what our hearts lead us to believe. Jesus saw the hearts of the people and knew they could not be trusted. The human heart is tainted in many ways. I know from experience how mine has led me astray at times, even in matters of faith, and I am not unique. Emotions are not how we follow God. We walk by faith regardless of how we feel.
Let the word guide you. Do justice, love mercy, walk humbly with God, and fear no evil, for God is with us.
