As I was watching the dog chase his tail, I realized just how easily amused a dog is. Then I realized I was watching the dog chase his tail.
January typically brings along a renewed hope, a fresh start, and a dismissal of “old” ways. We all adopt a “here we go!” and “we got this!” mentality. So this year when I turn the calendar to January 2022, why don’t I feel like cheering? Instead of my usual early-January afternoon spent with a fresh coffee and a fresh calendar, I’m quite content to watch the dog as he becomes determined to catch that sly fiend, once and for all.
When January 2020 dawned, we could not have imagined the challenges the year would bring. Although we couldn’t believe we were still immersed in the chaos when January 2021 emerged, we had high hopes for impending relief. As we cautiously turn the calendar to January 2022, we feel partially hopeful and partially afraid.
For us to plan and dream amidst uncertainty may seem futile, even ridiculous. Why would we be different than everyone else, and allow ourselves to be hopeful in such hopeless times? Why? Because God asks us to. He never promised this life to be easy, in fact He asks us to take the more difficult path.
Matt 7: 13-14 – Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.
Walking through these past two years have been challenging, to say the least. But could you imagine walking through this time without hope? The absence of hope is eternal despair. That’s not the life God wants for us. He created us to dream. He created us to believe. He created us to hope.
Psalm 121 – I lift up my eyes to the mountains—where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.
Our hope comes from God, not from others. So as we turn that calendar over, go ahead and dream, believe, and hope in Him. And cheer on that hope-filled little dog!
