Uplift

Looking In The Face Of A New Year

We are currently a few weeks shy of walking into a brand new year. Some of us are so ready for a new year which to us means a fresh start, others of us wish we had more time in this year. I still cannot believe that 2025 is on its way out and no matter what, I can’t stop it. No matter how I feel like I’m unready for a new year, the truth is,  it is still coming and I might as well embrace it. As I look over 2025 and think of all the things I didn’t get to do that I had planned. I think about where I wanted to be, heading into 2026 and I’m definitely not there. Then I remember, God has given me the privilege of life. I began to think of his faithfulness throughout this year. I think of how I didn’t know how I would have survived some of the things I walked through but God made a way where there was absolutely no other way. I think of all the times I cried out to him and he answered me. Sometimes it was a peace-filled stillness that washed over my racing mind. Sometimes it was the quiet solace that I felt as my sobs softened and turned into tears racing down my face. It was like I knew he was there meeting me right where I was. God wasn’t judging where he found me but he was rushing in like a concerned father for his daughter in distress. I know that can be difficult for daughters who didn’t have a good relationship with their earthly fathers to receive. I still struggle with believing that our Heavenly Father just loves the beauty of me and that he wants to sit with me in my pain. Not only will he sit with me in it, but he will also heal me when I’m willing to lay it at his feet. Anyway,  back to the new year. Sometimes as the new year approaches so does fear and anxiety for what it might hold, especially when our world right now feels as if it has been flipped upside down and turned inside out.  Our country feels so unstable right now.  It is difficult to tell from day to day how our country will lean. We show snippets of unity and then we see so much hate speech being plastered all over social media. A new year just feels heavy, if I’m being totally honest. It’s all the unknowns with our government. It’s all the things happening in our nation. All the disunity amongst us and the disagreements about things so small that have been magnified to be so big. It’s the prices of so many things skyrocketing and wondering how we will survive if it continues. It’s the news stories of senseless murders, bombings, kidnappings, and abuse of our most vulnerable innocent precious children at the hands of their own parents.  It’s all of these things and more. The thing I will never understand is the tactics of ICE against immigrants, not ever but, I just keep asking God to be near. Be close to those who are walking through the trauma of being separated from those they deeply love.  We can all talk about them being illegal but we refuse to look at the system that takes so long for them to navigate when fleeing a country looking for safety. Some moms have given their children away, just to get them to America and give them a better life, or to give them a chance at life. All of these things are heavy on my heart as I look our new year in the face. I’m trying my best to rest in the truth that I know. The truth is Jesus is the one who holds my future. Jesus is the one who holds this world. Jesus is the one who brings life out of dead situations.  Jesus is the only one who restores, redeems, and sets free. Jesus is the light, THE only light in darkness.

   I felt so drawn to this image. It appears that the little bloom is happening despite the circumstances of where it has been planted. I hope you will make the discovery that YOU can bloom wherever you are planted as well.  You can thrive wherever you are. It does not have to be perfect because you belong to a perfect Saviour. There are so many beautiful names for Jesus but one that I hold dear to me is Emmanuel meaning God with us. Right this very moment he is with you. As you look at a new year in the face just know that you are not alone. The same God who split the Red Sea, healed the sick, raised the dead, opened blind eyes, and created every fiber of your being, is with you.

As we prepare for a new year, I want to invite you into something beautiful. I want you to consider throwing out your self-made plans. Take a moment and think about what might happen if you throw out your self-made list of all the things you want to accomplish in 2026 and trust God with it ALL. What would that look like for 2026? It might look like more time in prayer over that business plan. It might look like more time seeking his face about his plans for you and your family in 2026. It might look like sitting in an uncomfortable place without a solid plan because you want it to be solidified by the Holy Spirit.  Don’t be rushed by the start of a new year. Don’t be guilted into coming up with a plan that is not God honoring. When we take all of who we are which includes our dreams, visions, hopes, plans, and goals, and then submerge all of it in Christ, he writes his plans all over our plans.
In this scripture, the Lord is first telling you who he is and then letting you know that he is the Lord who teaches you what is best for you. Not only does he teach you what is best for you, but the Lord also leads you in the way you should go. So, as we’re looking a new year right in the face, I’m praying that you’re also locking hands with a Holy Saviour whose greatest desire is to lead you. I hope you’re clinging to the only one who can truly teach you what is best for you. Trust his plans for your life.
In this scripture, it comforts my heart knowing that God has a plan for my life and for yours. God’s plans for us are to prosper us and not harm us. God desires to give you a future and a hope. I want to ask you something though; How can God do this if we exclude him in our planning sessions? We must submerge our plans in him and ask him to write the plans for this new year. If you desire a successful business,  ask him to lead the way. If you want to reach your goals, ask him to show you how to do it. Ask him to place the people in your life who will help you reach your goals.
As you posture your heart to let 2025 go, reach for 2026 with your life buried in Jesus.
As we’re heading into a new year, let’s choose to make Jesus famous. Let’s choose to follow him the same way we follow our favorite speaker or singer. In 2026 let’s put him back in his right place in our hearts. Let’s choose him before we choose the world. Let’s make him the greatest gift, we’re offering to the lost. May our lives preach sermons that cause others to want Jesus. Before we do anything let’s make sure that the thing is God honoring and not just good. As I close this post, I want to wish you a very Happy New Year. I am praying that this year brings you closer to Jesus. I am praying that this year is a year of surrendering all of your beautiful plans to the one who can make them possible.  I’m praying for a year of financial stability. I’m praying that this is a year of healing in every way for you. Happy New Year sweet friends.
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godsgirllora
I am a wife, a mother a believer in Jesus Christ and a person who has lived with a mental health condition. My desire is to come alongside of those like me who need support. I will write my real, raw, honest journey through this in hopes that you and I can find strength through it together. Your comments are welcomed and honored here. All I ask is that you be respectful with your words because my journey might not look like yours but it is mine. Looking forward to walking alongside you here in this safe space. P.S If your looking for perfect grammar and words placed perfect….you won’t find that here. You will find words that come from my heart and the heart of Jesus, hopefully in that you will find hope. I believe with hope comes the courage to step into the safety of the light.
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