“Jesus answered them, ‘Do you finally believe? I’ve told you all this so that trusting me, you will be unshakable and assured, deeply at peace. In this godless world you will continue to experience difficulties. But take heart! I’ve conquered the world.’”
— John 16:31-33
It’s New Year’s 2021. We bid 2020 “good riddance!”
I admit it … I’m a control freak. And if ever there has been an out-of-control year, it was 2020.
Unexpected change came in torrents, reminding us all that we’re not as in charge of our lives as we thought.
Will 2021 be the same? What can we learn from all this? Here are three lessons to ponder as we celebrate New Year’s Eve:
1. We don’t know everything, but there is Someone who does.
There is only one person who is actually “in the know” about everything, and that would be God. God never has to learn anything for He is all-knowing. He is never surprised by anything for He dwells outside of time. He never has to say, “oops,” for He has all knowledge with which to consider every possible option.
In other words, God is sovereign over EVERYTHING, always drawing forth the greater good in the face of what appears to be the greatest evil. After all, He’s been there from the start of creation. If anyone can draw upon experience, He more than all.
2. We can’t control the world; we can control our reaction to it.
“God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference,” American theologian Reinhold Niebuhr wrote in the “Serenity Prayer.”
We accept the fact that natural disasters, even pandemics are going to happen without notice. But we also need to expect people to behave badly under the right circumstances as well.
Everyone is on their best behavior when things are going their way. But all bets are off when “self-interest is threatened, and fear of any kind is aroused,” according to a Dec. 24 Wall Street Journal essay, “Finding the Sacred In the Delights of Christmas.”
It’s called human nature.
Hinging your happiness upon the expectation of change in other people is a surefire road to frustration and discouragement. Your goal should be to change your response to the behavior of others.
How to do this? Start by expecting, indeed betting on, occasional adverse behavior on the part of others, then decide how you will respond appropriately in advance. Picture how you want to feel in the face of provocations and respond accordingly.
One of Jesus’ most winsome characteristics was that He was never provoked by the hostile actions of others. He was always in charge, giving nothing to His enemies to use against Him.
As written in John 2:23-25, “But Jesus, on His part, was not entrusting Himself to them, because He knew all people, and because He did not need anyone to testify about mankind, for He Himself knew what was in mankind.”
3. We can’t trust ourselves, but we can trust the God who made us.
The Apostle Paul endured unbelievable suffering in his ministry. He wrote in 2 Corinthians 4:7, “But we have this treasure in earthen containers, so that the extraordinary greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves.”
Herein lies the secret of the Christian life — the curious mixing of the divine and the human — “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” YOU cannot live the Christian life, but Christ can live it IN you through the Holy Spirit.
Stop trying and start believing.
How About You?
Do your unrealistic, “feel good all the time” expectations result in pain and guilt when you fall short of your “goals?” Remember, grief and sadness are part of the human experience.
Embrace challenges and then look up to God who, as is written in Romans 8:28, is always working out the greater good “to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”
Paul concluded in 2 Corinthians 4:16-18, “Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer person is decaying, yet our inner person is being renewed day by day. For our momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.”
— D.C. Collier is a Bible teacher, discipleship mentor and writer focused on Christian apologetics. A mechanical engineer and Internet entrepreneur, he is the author of My Origin, My Destiny, a book focused on Christianity’s basic “value proposition.” Click here for more information, or contact him at don@peervalue.com. Click here for previous columns. The opinions expressed are his own.