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We all face anxiety when we start something new to know whether it will make it to the end. The moment a child is conceived; a marriage bond is formed; we start a degree; or a new diet; our minds race with thoughts of what the end will be like?
It is for this reason December 31st is no ordinary day. It is a day in which we get to answer the question we asked 365 days earlier--will we make it?
As we reflect on each day of the year, we recall some of those anxious moments, when situations appeared too burdensome to endure, , when we were too tired to go on, too discouraged to hope, too sick to continue the journey, too broke to be cheerful and yet, praise God we made it--Its December 31st!
Yes, we are like that one sperm among the 40 to 150 million “which start swimming upstream toward the fallopian and made it!!!!” While we are not the only ones who made it, we cannot help but realize that there are those who went to sleep on the journey. The fact that we are alive is something to be grateful for.
Even today I awoke to the sad news of two young men who passed in the tide of the sea leaving wives and young children behind. My deepest condolence to the families and church members who are currently mourning. And to Tricia my college mate.
It is such deep thoughts that inspired me for years to carry out my childhood tradition. Where, before sunset each year on December 31st , all our church family would gather in church. We would sing songs like, “All the way my Saviour leads me”, “We have come this far by faith”, “Your grace and mercy brought me through”.
Then, we would all share a testimony of how God brought us through the year. At sunset, we would pause and literally “raise our Ebenezer, hither by thy help I’ve come” and say thank you Lord for one more year. We would ring out the Happy New Year greetings with great celebration!!!
On our way home, we would see others going out to church. We saw fireworks, party or people at the dance awaiting the midnight tick to bring in the new year celebrations.
Then comes the question , “Does it matter where the New year finds you?”
I believe that even if we choose not to leave our homes, we must find a solemn moment to sit quietly in reflection and transit with God into a new year. If you can’t dictate where, make sure the whom is God.
My father read this solemn quotation to me as a child and I am reminded of it each year, “The old year, with its burden of record, is fast passing away. The new year, with all its possibilities, will soon be ushered in. What advancement have we made in the knowledge of Christ during the past year? Are we prepared to show, more decidedly than ever before, that we are on the Lord’s side? At this time, when the nations of the world are wavering between infidelity and idolatry, are we prepared to stand as faithful ambassadors for Christ? Shall we not, at the beginning of this new year, give ourselves and all we have to God? Shall we not listen to His voice, which calls us to a renewed contest, to a more thorough consecration of ourselves and our entrusted capabilities to His service?” (Sons and Daughter of God, 8).
May this New Year find you in a place close to your Savior and His plan: your only Mission.