Tonight when the clock strikes midnight and the gigantic, glimmering ball drops in Time’s Square in New York City, 2024 will begin around the world. The million people crowding Time’s Square will begin to sing “Auld Lang Syne” and grab the person’s hand next to them as they usher in another year.
I love “new beginnings”. They give us a fresh start of what is to come and not about we have left behind. It is a time to move forward from the reminder of all the unexpected things that have happened in 2023. Those who have lost loved ones and those who were given a life-threatening physical diagnosis (and who have had a hard time moving from their despair) can find consolation and strength in moving forward one day at a time with the help of friends and family and leaning on the One who is our “strength and shield.”
Whatever our situation has been in 2023, we can trust God with the unknown and the new. II Corinthians 5:17 (ESV) says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away, behold, the new has come.” We can look to the beginning of 2024 with a new sense of anticipation in all that God will and can continue to do in our lives as long as we rely on and trust His promises that “all things work together for good to them who love the Lord and are called according to His purpose.”
May you find his strength, guidance, and rely on the assurances of God’s promises in the coming New Year 2024.
Blessings,
Yvonne
Reading: “Be Still: 90 Devotions for the Hopeful Heart” by Cleere Cherry.