[Jesus said,] “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)
Who knows what this week will hold? Who knows what things will happen to us on the brink of a new year? For that matter, who knows what will happen in the next half hour?
We don’t, which drives some people crazy. And yes, some days it drives me crazy too. I’m a planner by nature, which means I’m not always very good with shifting things around and going with the flow. Will I finish my novel this year and start on another? Will our son (and I) survive when he starts middle school in the fall? Will my family have a healthy year? Will my freelance business pick back up?
I hope the answer to all these (and more) questions is ‘yes,’ but I don’t know for certain that it will be. I don’t know what kinds of troubles are coming my way, but I don’t need to. I just need to rest in the knowledge that our awesome God is in control and can handle it for me. I just need to take each day as it comes and offer it up to the Lord. Because no matter how much I like to plot or plan or organize, He’s just so much smarter than me and knows everything I don’t.
So my goal this week as we start a new year is to take heart! The One who controls all of creation knows exactly what problems and challenges I’ll face and what their resolutions will be. What a relief to mark one thing off my perpetual to-do list and hand it off to Him.