hope

As the new year sneaks in past the disappointments of the old, there’s a genuine sense of relief in the air.
Have you felt it, too?

Maybe, we’ve learned better how to value the little things in life,
so the year to come will be one filled with moments worth celebrating.

Maybe, next year, things will return to the way they used to be.

Maybe, just maybe, we’ve had such a rough ride this past year,
that the next one will be smooth sailing. Surely?

Hope is an interesting concept.

On the one hand, it’s a light in the darkness or a hint of daylight at the end of a long, damp tunnel. In this sense, as we all know, it’s so very, very necessary.

But on the other hand, it’s easy to misunderstand hope as the ability to rest all of our wishful thinking on a single idea, or scenario.

I don’t think we do it deliberately, it’s more like a side effect of the times we’re in. We kind of figure that, if we can’t rely on the big stuff that has mattered in the past (like a big family gathering for a birthday or Christmas, for example) then at least we can rely on the little stuff.

That may even just be the things we take for granted, until something goes wrong. The dishwasher or dryer breaks down; the 5kg container of rice cascades to the floor in a shower of snow; the bowlful of cereal and milk tumbles from the table, trickling over chairs and stools to a spreading puddle on the tiles. These aren’t that big a deal in the scheme of things, really. But they matter quite a bit in the moment.

In a year where the little things have become more significant, have you noticed that the impact when the small stuff doesn’t go to plan, is greater than ever? Little things somehow have the ability to tip us over the edge, in a way they might not have to quite the same extent, before.

This past week I managed to accidentally leave the door open to my deep freeze, and defrost most of the food inside. A lot of which I’d only just purchased and put in there – before forgetting to shut that silly door almost twenty four hours prior. I walked around in circles, berating myself, feeling madder and madder, opening and shutting the chilly bin full of partially soft meat and trying to wrap my head around how to go about cooking it.

You see, my hopes had rested on being able to put my feet up for a couple of hours that afternoon. NOT to spend it slaving over a hot stove! In the scheme of things, it wasn’t really a big deal, but in the moment, it sure felt like one. We’ve had a number of similar-type experiences this week, one after the other, and they’ve got me to thinking. In what are we resting our hope?

Because, if our hope lies in “something better” then chances are, we’re setting ourselves up for disappointment. That said, I don’t mean that everything will go wrong, far from it! I mean that the weight of ALL your hope riding on things ALWAYS being better, is a heavy burden for any moment, situation or appliance to bear. It’s an exceptionally high expectation to place on yourself and others, too. And, when it all comes falling down, the disappointments are harder to handle, somehow.

On the eve of a new year, as we farewell the old, I think it’s so important to be certain of what we hope for. Don’t hang your hopes on all that last year wasn’t. Or on all that next ‘should’ be, because of the challenges you’ve faced this year.

Instead, let your hope rest in the One who promises to use each and every moment of your life, according to His purpose. Nothing is ever in vain. All the lessons and learning, the challenges and victories, the frustrations and epiphanies that the past year has brought you, have made you into the person you are now. You will carry that into the coming year. Not in spite of what you’ve been through, but because of it.

We have all grown so much this year. We all have things that we can choose to be thankful for. And, when our hope is fixed on Someone greater than us, we can forge into the New Year knowing that the best is yet to come.

Because although God’s best may not look exactly like we’d anticipate, we know hands-down that His best is better than our imagined ideas ever could be.

May you and your families know and experience a hope-filled entry into this New Year. A hope that goes beyond your current circumstances and is centred in the One who holds you in the palm of His hand.

In hope,

Kristy x