Next Year, Will All Our Troubles Be Miles Away?

Christmas is still a fresh memory, but some of us are already anticipating the start of a new year. In a real sense, the passing from Dec. 31 to Jan. 1 will be a  simple turn of the calendar. But won’t it be cathartic, to be able to write “2021” instead of the 2020 that has created so much stress and discomfort? Instead of greeting each other with “happy new year,” we’ll probably be more inclined to say, “Good riddance!”

In optical terminology, 20:20 means excellent eyesight. But in comparison with other years, 2020 has been a blur – and not in a good sense. With all the turmoil we’ve endured, thanks to the pandemic, politics and other perplexities, I think we all can agree that 2020 didn’t live up to its hype.

 

So, just days from now, we’ll move on to 2021. The million-dollar question is, will it truly be a new year – or just more of the same?

 

The other day I was listening to the old holiday song, “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” with its promise: “Next year all our troubles will be miles away.” We can only hope.

 

Truthfully, no one knows. No more than anyone could have known how our world would turn upside down because of something called COVID-19. But in the midst of our present and future uncertainty, there is genuine hope we can count on. And not of the “hope-so” variety.

 

It's not a hope in government, or in the right party or President getting into office. It’s not hope in science or technology, although those have served as very useful and helpful tools in many ways. It’s not even hope in human goodness. 

 

This hope can be found only in the presence and power of the eternal God and our Lord Jesus Christ, whom Hebrews 13:8 declares is “the same yesterday and today and forever.” So much of what we see and experience is constantly changing: The seasons transform one into another. Fashions that were in style last month have already given way to the fads of today. Economically, the bull market can turn into a bear overnight. We age, and every time we look in the mirror, we look different. But God is unchanging. 

 

Because of this, the “hope-so” that is determined by so many of life’s uncertainties can be replaced by the hope that’s defined in the Scriptures as confident assurance, or earnest expectation. Here’s a sampling of the passages in both the Old and New Testaments that expound upon the hope that we can have:

 

Hope that pain has a purpose. “…And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us” (Romans 5:3-5).

 

Hope that rewards our patience. “For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently” (Romans 8:24-25).

 

Hope that we can truly trust in. “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see” (Hebrews 11:1).

 

Hope that leads to limitless joy. “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit” (Romans 15:13).

 

Hope that is eternal. “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection  of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade – kept in heaven for you” (1 Peter 1:3-4).

 

Hope that can sustain us. “Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the Lord” (Psalm 31:24).

 

Hope that is anchored in God’s love. “But the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love” (Psalm 33:18).

 

Hope that overcomes turmoil. “Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God” (Psalm 42:5-6).

 

We all would like a guarantee that 2021 will be much better than the year we’ve been enduring, that 2020 will become an unpleasant, but fading memory. Alas, we have no such guarantees. There’s no assurance that our troubles will be miles away. 

 

But by trusting the promises and assurances of the Scriptures, we do have one guarantee: That the God of all eternity will be with us, through good times and hard times, as close as our next breath. And in that we can find and experience hope that is both deep and unshakable.

Failure: Springboard to Success

There’s a disturbing trend in our society. It’s a condition, actually, an apparent allergy to…failure.

Take kids’ sports: Many of them don’t award championships anymore. Everyone gets participation trophies; better teams aren’t distinguished from those with less talented ones. In lower-age brackets, they often don’t even keep score. Why? We don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings. Failing to win a Saturday morning soccer match, or finishing third in the youth baseball league could forever scar the “losers” for the rest of their lives. Or so we’re told.

While I’m no expert on the emotional and psychological ramifications of wins and losses on young minds, we’re in big trouble trying to shield our children and grandkids from failure. Because in our hostile, dispassionate world, not everybody wins. If you’re passed up for a promotion, the bosses don’t care if your feelings are bruised.

Not afraid to fail, Tim Tebow is
competing for a spot with the Mets.

Tim Tebow spoke about this recently. Remember the humble, clean-cut Heisman Trophy winner who briefly visited the NFL and today aspires for a spot on one of baseball’s major league teams? Despite his successes, Tebow also has known failure; by his own admission, he's better for it.

Speaking at the start of New York Mets’ spring training camp, Tebow explained his aspirations for reaching the major leagues after a so-so experience in pro football. He said: 

“You’re always going to have people that tell you that you won’t, that you can’t, that you shouldn’t. Most of those are people that didn’t, that wouldn’t, that couldn’t. Don’t be defined by outside sources. You go after your dream. 

“Succeeding or failing…it’s not having to live with your regret because I didn’t try. I just feel for all the young people out there that don’t go after something because they’re so afraid of failing. You’re going to live with a lot more regret than if you tried and you failed. I think a reason a lot of people don’t go after things is because of how much you will be criticized and, ‘what if I do fall flat on my face?’ 

“Fear and doubt creep in, and I don’t think that’s the healthiest way to live. I don’t want to have to live with doubt every day. Regardless of what everyone here has to say about me, that doesn’t define me…. There’s one thing that defines me, and that’s what God says about me.”

Tebow has been considered by some as a “polarizing figure,” largely because he’s a bold, unapologetic witness for Jesus Christ, who strives to live out the faith he professes. Which he’s done, win or lose. He won college football’s highest individual honor and led the Florida Gators to two national championships. But he’s also fallen far short of other goals, failing to translate his collegiate success to NFL stardom. Whether he’ll ever play in a major-league ballpark remains in question.

But as he says, “There’s one thing that defines me, and that’s what God says about me.” That should be our philosophy as well as followers of Jesus Christ, whether we’re IT technicians, law enforcement officers, school teachers, restaurant hosts, college students, homemakers, or construction workers.

And if you’re not failing sometimes, it’s only because you’re not trying. No one succeeds 100 percent of the time. Thomas Alva Edison, George Washington Carver, Steve Jobs and the Wright brothers all learned failure’s necessary for removing some of the obstacles to success.

Among the delights of reading the Scriptures are stories of God’s “failures,” men and women who endured hardships and survived hard knocks to become His servants and messengers. You don’t have to read long – Adam and Eve messed up in the third chapter of Genesis, and humankind has been following their “example” ever since.

Look at any of the central characters in the Old and New testaments, from Noah and Abraham, Jacob and David, to the apostles Peter and Paul, and you’ll find their failures devastated but didn’t define them.

Maybe that’s why God reminds us often our Christian “walk” will be filled with stumbles along the way.  In Isaiah 41:10, the Lord promises, “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” 

In the previous chapter, the prophet writes, “…The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth…. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint” (Isaiah 41:28-31).

In one of his wisdom books, King Solomon describes the need for support to overcome perilous falls and failures: “Two are better than one because they have a good return for their work. If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!” (Ecclesiastes 4:9-10).

We don’t have to seek out failure. It will find us. But if we have any doubt about what God can do with people who fail, all we need to do is turn to the 11^th chapter of Hebrews, where God presents His “hall of faith.” In addition to Old Testament patriarchs cited above, we read about Moses, who stumbled more than once; Rahab the prostitute, Samson, Samuel, and others.

If they could fail and yet be used by God, to the point that they received special recognition in the Scriptures, so can we!