The Winter of Our New Year Discontent?

The Times Square ball dropped on schedule. Calendar pages flipped. Yet the pandemic lingers. And we begrudgingly rang it in with the “new” on the last day of the year. Its mushroom cloud continues its ever-widening reach over the globe, refusing to dissipate. And so, the new season of limited sunlight settles in. The Winter of Our New Year Discontent? It’s here too. But I’m honing in on five fires worth stoking in 2021.

The Flames of Faith

The most challenging feat of 2020 involves choosing faith over fear. As Christians it’s imperative that we live a life that reflects a profound trust in our Almighty God. If we say we believe in God but panic at the sight of new case numbers, limited vaccine supply, and changes in our government, what kind of example does that set for our non-believing friends?

Fortunately, God works mightily with faith as diminutive as a minuscule mustard seed. But we can’t sit our hands and expect a miracle. In Romans 10:17, Paul tells us that “faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.” We don’t absorb truth and wisdom if the Bible is on our desks unless its words make it to our hands and eyes. Even then it must be embraced with our hearts.

Perhaps you’re waking up to the gloom and doom of headlines that depress and discourage. As a result, that’s the perfect time to turn off the news and lean into Proverbs 3:5-6. There we read to “trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make straight your paths.” That verse doesn’t promise that the path will be smooth, but it does remind us that He directs us on the path to the destination He has chosen. We submit, allowing Him to lead the way. And our worries dissipate as our reliance on Him increases.

The Bonfire of Resilience

Cultivating and relying on resilience is imperative to the daily battle plan of the Christian. In fact, the New York Times recently listed it as the most valuable character quality in this winter of our new year discontent. So many forces come up against us: dark forces, pestilence, financial challenges, relationship challenges. When we fuel ourselves with God’s word and His promises, we position ourselves for effective ministry. And thoroughly fortified as we face inevitable opposition from the Enemy.

Paul reminds us in 2 Corinthians 4:8-9 that “we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed but not driven to despair; persecuted but not forsaken; struck down but not destroyed.” One aspect of this verse that encourages me is how it lays out just how low we might descend without experiencing defeat.

Some might read that and dread the adversity. But for me, reading it reminds me that enduring the ravages of battle won’t result in losing the war. In fact, God guarantees that we will win it when we remain steadfast despite all odds. “Be faithful until death and I will give you the crown of life.” What a hope-filled promise! And what a blessing to know that when we cultivate and strengthen our resiliency, others see the fruit of that character quality as it offers you a pathway to further glorify God.

The Sparks of Ingenuity

Certainly, necessity is the mother of invention as Ben Franklin once said. After all, he invented bifocals in order to alleviate the need to wear one pair of glasses to read up close and another to see faraway objects. In fact, many inventions spring from problem-solving entrepreneurs who thought outside the box to meet needs or avert crisis. The invention of the vaccine by doctor Thomas Tinsdale in an attempt to mitigate the full effects of smallpox in 1768. in 1956, typist Bette Nesmith Graham invented Liquid Paper to alleviated scores of messy erasures and the need to retype documents. Josephine Cochran, tired of the drudgery of dishwashing,  invented a machine to automate the chore she and other women around the world were tired of doing.

Necessity is the mother of invention for ordinary people leading ordinary lives. In environments of oppression or limitation, a new way of thinking brings about previously unforeseeable success. The Lord instilled expertise of one kind or another in each of us when He created us. In Exodus 31: 3 we learn of men filled with “the Spirit of God, with ability and intelligence, with knowledge and…craftsmanship.”

And in Exodus 35:35 we read, “He has filled them with skill to do all kinds of work as engravers, designers, embroiderers…and weavers – all of them skilled workers and designers.” The wisest men know the only valuable wisdom comes from God.”Let the wise hear and increase in learning, and the one who understands obtain guidance,” we read in Proverbs 1:5. Who better to learn from that God himself? He’s laid out all the wisdom we need in the Bible.

The Candlelight of Hope

Hope is an essential. A quote from the Preaching Today website put it like this: a person can live for 40 days without food, four days without water, and four minutes without air. But we can’t live for four seconds without hope. Hope is an invisible essential. Many, especially those who realize it’s sorely lacking in their lives, underestimate the importance of it.

In 1 Thessalonians 4:13, Paul reminds us that our hope frees us from despair. We must eagerly embrace it. “Brothers, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you will not grieve like the rest, who are without hope.” Although Paul speaks about death here, his point about “grieving like the rest” applies to all aspects of Christian living and the attitudes we exhibit. If we want to attract people to Christianity, we say much more with our actions and attitudes than we ever can with words that fail to line up with anxiety and despondency.

Concentration camp survivor Viktor E. Frankl, in his famous book “Man’s Search For Meaning,” stated that the “sudden loss of courage and hope” levels a deadly effect on those suffering from it. Frankl, a medical doctor, witnessed immune systems lower as a result of these two deficiencies. Despite all odds, he vowed to his comrades never to give up hope.

As Christians, our hope remains securely rooted in Jesus Christ. And He remains “the light of the world” as recorded in John 8:12. When we press into Jesus and cling to the hope we have, God is glorified. His light shines in us and through us. That’s a win-win. We fill ourselves with the light of life here on Earth in fellowship with Him and also emit that same light to illuminate our dark world. The more of us who elect to shine such a light, the brighter our little candlelights shine.

I’m going to carry this image with me into 2021. I’m envisioning legions of candles on the horizon, contradicting the dark projections, the dim visions of the future, and the hopelessness of those who still don’t know God. Join me in praying these sparks turn into flames and inspire legions of light-bearers. May we partner with the Light of the World to brighten a world so steeped in seemingly hopeless darkness.

Cindy‘s final installment in the three devotion trilogy is now available on Amazon in Kindle or paperback format!
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