It is not unusual to approach the new year asking ourselves what the new year will bring or would it bring what I want. Circumstances can change, but what if they don’t? What if they do? Is there something better than circumstances?
I have to admit that right after Christmas I started to feel like I was ready to move on or out of the holiday season. Have you ever felt this way? I am thankful for every opportunity I had to be with family and friends and to focus on beautiful truths behind Christmas. But something was feeling like..ok, I had enough! So I began searching for a place in God’s Word, the Bible, to help me think about the future and the New 2019 Year. The Holy Spirit led me to Psalm 16.
What can we find in Psalm 16 that could help us think more clearly about circumstances in the New Year? Glad you asked!
Here is my attempt to capture the significant thoughts I found:
A personal, honest prayer where we recognize that God is the one who can “preserve” us
The negative promise that sorrows will increase for those who look for life outside of God
A profound affirmation that the Lord can be our satisfying “portion”, our “cup of blessing” and that He is the one who “holds our future”
That the boundary lines have fallen in “pleasant places” and that in Him we have a “beautiful inheritance”
A personal promise from the Lord where He commits Himself to be our “counselor”
The firm assurance that we “will not be shaken” because “He is at our right side”
An unmistakable anchor-like promise that He will not “abandon” us
That He “will make us know the path of life”
That in His presence we will find “fulness of joy” and “pleasures” forever
And…that these realities in a sense are offered to us for eternity!
So, what if my circumstances do or do not change in 2019? You are guaranteed a person who in real locations and time will be with you. He will offer you all the realities listed above. In fact, He will be actively doing these things on your behalf.
When King David, the author of this Psalm, said “Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices; my flesh also dwells secure,” he was pointing to the experience of this personal God and Lord in his life—not to a change of or changeless circumstances. So as we consider the New 2019 Year let us consider what or who is going to be our hope, and let us be intentional to usher and acknowledge the one who is above, under and within our circumstances working out good things!
Have a hopeful New 2019 Year!
—Diego Cuartas
