What's In Store In 2024?

On New Year’s Eve, as the year was turning from 2023 to 2024, we had the television on so that we could watch the ball drop in Times Square. As it did, everyone there was cheering for the New Year. And one of the commentators (or someone with them) exclaimed, “This is going to be the best year ever!” My response was, how do they know that? How do they know what’s in store in 2024?  (To which my son responded, telling me not to be so grouchy and cynical!) 

Without trying to be grouchy or cynical, however, the truth is, none of us knows what the next year will hold. We would all like to think that 2024 will be a year of great things, blessings, smooth sailing, etc. We would all love to have a year wherein all of our hopes and dreams come true. And for some that just may be the case. I hope it is for you. Yet for others, 2024 might not turn out to be all that they hoped and wished for—or even prayed for. For some, 2024 could turn out to be the year in which they lose their battle with illness or their spouse passes away or their job is lost. Although we all hope and pray for the best, none of us really knows what’s in store in 2024. For some it may be a year of wonderful things; for others it may be a year of great difficulty. For most, it will be, like most other years, a mixture of the two, 

The question is then, how do we face a new year that at this point is filled with such uncertainty? How do we look ahead guarding against both a false sense of optimism and that terrible and destructive thing called, cynicism? The answer is, faith. That is, as we look ahead to the new year we do so filled with faith. Not faith in the fact that all things are always going to turn out the way we want them to. But faith in a God who has promised to always be with us; faith in the One who has promised to help us and lead us through all that life might throw our way. We walk by faith into a new year, trusting in the love, compassion, and grace of God as shown to us through our Lord Jesus Christ.  

I want to enter this new year with the words of the prophet Habakkuk on my lips, 

Though the fig tree does not bud

    and there are no grapes on the vines,

though the olive crop fails

    and the fields produce no food,

though there are no sheep in the pen

    and no cattle in the stalls,

yet I will rejoice in the LORD,

    I will be joyful in God my Savior.

The Sovereign LORD is my strength;

    he makes my feet like the feet of a deer,

    he enables me to tread on the heights.

(Habakkuk 3:17-19 – NIV)

No matter what’s in store in 2024, whether it’s filled with the good, the difficult, or a mixture of the two, we serve a God who is always with us. And he is able to turn even the most difficult of times (and years) into a place of blessing as we experience his nearness, comfort, strength and peace at work in our lives. So let’s enter this new year filled with faith as we put our trust in him and him alone. 

Have a great day…and Happy New Year! 

- Pastor Tim Harris