Twelve months ago we rang in the Year 2020 with great anticipation and joy. We had so many goals and dreams. It was going to be the best year yet. Who would have thought that 2020 would turn our lives upside down? The pandemic has changed our lives in ways we never thought imaginable. Life as we knew it was no more. We have lost so much this year: wedding celebrations had to be postponed, graduations were virtual, we had to figure out a whole new way of worshipping and doing ministry, we lost loved ones to COVID 19 and we couldn’t even have a ‘normal’ funeral to celebrate their lives and God’s love. This year has brought a sense of loneliness as we could not gather together, could not go out to restaurants, and could not visit our loved ones in nursing homes. This year has brought anxiety like we have never known. I read somewhere that an individual was staying up until midnight on New Year’s Eve, not to usher in a New Year but to make sure we closed the book on 2020. I must admit I too will be glad to see this year come to an end.
We stand at the threshold of a New Year on our tippy toes wondering what this year will hold for us. Will it be different than 2020? Will the vaccine wipe out this dreaded virus? Will life go back to normal?
It is my prayer that we do not go back to normal. Oh it is my earnest prayer that we will bid farewell to this pandemic. I don’t want to go back to the ‘normal’ where we are so busy we miss the blessings right in front of our eyes. I pray that with this New Year we will be far more cognizant of the preciousness of family, the gift of time, and we will be appreciative of the little things, little thangs that are big blessings.
I nor you know what 2021 will hold but I do know who holds tomorrow. In 1994 Alison Kraus penned the words to a song that I believe is one we should hold dear to our hearts as we step into 2021.
I Know Who Holds Tomorrow
I don’t know about tomorrow
I just live for day to day
I don’t borrow from the sunshine
For it’s skies may turn to gray
I don’t worry o’er the future
For I know what Jesus said
And today I’ll walk beside Him
For He knows what lies ahead
Many things about tomorrow
I don’t seem to understand
But I know who holds tomorrow
And I know who holds my hand
Ev’ry step is getting brighter
As the golden stairs I climb
Ev’ry burden’s getting lighter
Ev’ry cloud is silver lined
There the sun is always shining
There no tear will dim the eye
At the ending of the rainbow
Where the mountains touch the sky
Many things about tomorrow
I don’t seem to understand
But I know who holds tomorrow
And I know who holds my hand
Blessings,
Pastor Russel