Happy New Year!

By Carol Wollaston

Television news on January 1st always shows happy revellers welcoming in the new year.  We have been told that 2009 will not be very happy, especially early in the year.  For all those folk who lost their jobs close to Christmas 2008 I am sure the new year is holding certain fears rather than joys.  Political leaders are spending up big, and trying hard not to mention the ‘R’ word, and even Christmas spending indicated that people were still making hay while the sun was shining.  So are happy new year revellers fooling themselves while enjoying being party animals, or are they filled with a real hope for the future?  And as Christians, how do we face the new year, and what is our hope?

We are reminded of the words of Jesus, ‘behold, I am making all things new’. (Rev 21:5).  This statement makes it clear that in Christ we can know life that is truly new.  With this life in us it matters not what season, year or decade we are living in.  Our hope is in Him and His Body, the church.  Here we see the new life of God building faith in each one, as we receive it from Christ and share it abroad.  It is the ‘resurrection’ life coming down from above, through Christ that is making all things new.  This is the sustaining force behind our hope for the future.  A man or woman of substance is not a person whose material goods are substantial, but a person whose character has substance because Christ Himself has become the substance of his or her life - not because of ‘nurture’ or ‘nature’.  Therefore the Christian claims, ‘it is no longer I that live, but Christ that lives in me’! (Gal 2:20)

So we do not long for the times that we perceive as being better in the past.  Neither do we put our faith and hope in better times for the future, for they may not be reality.  Instead, we look to Christ ‘in us, the hope of glory’.  As we pass through the valley of life’s experiences we ‘fear no evil,’ for Christ is with us.  The rod of His loving discipline and guidance, and His staff of strength and provision are always there to comfort us.  (Psalm 23)

The alternative to living this new way is to try and control our circumstances as best we can.  Unfortunately, as we have discovered in 2008, this is impossible.  Global recession rises up to bite hard when we least expect it.  However, the life of God is just as strong and meaningful today as it was when Mary and Abraham each proclaimed, ‘nothing is impossible for God’.  This does not mean that God is going to call a halt to all bad things.  He has a purpose and will work it out in His own good time.  Bad things have come and gone throughout history, but God has stood the test of time.  Those who trust in Him are building their lives on Christ, the strong rock.  They do not depend upon the sinking sands of man’s earthly successes or failures.

So happy new year or not,  the life of Christ can sustain us, cast out fear of the unknown, calm anxiety in the midst of difficult circumstances and provide strength in adversity, and security in times of uncertainty.  ‘This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both pure and steadfast,’ (Hebrews 6:19) or in the immortal words on the back of the old bus ticket, ‘whatever awaits you around the corner, God is already there’!