Endless Possibilities
Dan Kunz
Depending on where you live, you may have received a fresh blanket of snow shortly before the holidays. Being an outdoors person (I used to be an outdoorsman), I love the look of a freshly covered field, or lake, or woods. Something about that visual image makes me think of the endless possibilities which lie before me. Will a wary bobcat be the first to cross the field? Will a hopeful ice fisherman trek across the lake to a rendezvous with the fish he is after? Will a majestic buck stroll through the woods as he surveys his domain? Time alone will tell.
As a new year dawns, we have that same opportunity to consider the endless possibilities which lie before us. Of course, given the year we just experienced, it would be easy, and somewhat natural, to look with distrust and maybe even anxiety at the year which lies ahead, but, as Christians, we should espouse the mantra, “I don’t know what the future holds, but I know who holds the future.” Hopefully, the pandemic will eventually fade into history. The new administration will bring unity, safety, and prosperity to the country. Natural disasters will be few and far between. Whatever happens, we know that our kind and loving Heavenly Father will be governing the universe and do what is best, not only for his children as a whole, but for each of us as individuals whose name he has written in the palm of his hand.
When some of us were children, our dad or mom may have allowed us to sit on his or her lap and steer the riding lawn mower, the boat, or even the car for a short distance. In a way, God does the same thing with each of us now. He gives us the opportunity to make choices and decisions in our lives. He lets us “steer the car” to some degree. The year which lies ahead is the perfect chance for us to do some steering. Are we going to approach the year optimistically or pessimistically? That’s a choice. Martha Washington once wrote, “I am determined to be cheerful and happy in whatever situation I may be. For I have also learned from experience that the greater part of our happiness, or misery, depends on our dispositions and not on our circumstances. We carry the seeds of the one or the other about with us in our minds wherever we go.”
Are we going to take this fresh slate and finally make time to do a daily devotion or Bible study? Is there someone with whom you haven’t spoken for a very long time and need to “re-connect”? Will we make it a point to bring Jesus into the conversation with a friend, relative, acquaintance, or neighbor? Can any of your possessions be shared with someone in need? Should we focus some of our time and resources on taking better care of the temple of the Holy Spirit, which is our body? Have you told enough people that you love them? Like that freshly fallen, silent shroud of snow, the turning of the calendar page gives us all the freedom to lay down some new tracks, to chart a new path, to steer the ship a little. We can have the confidence to do so because of what our Father has promised: Jeremiah 29:11 ”For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”