Well, as it is, another year has come to a close. As I sit and think about what this past year has held, not only in my own life, but in those around me and the country at large it is good and right to say that God is good. Sure the economy has gone up and down, things didn't turn out like many of us wanted them to in the presidential election, you may have lost your job, maybe someone close to you died, or maybe you have struggled to wonder what God is trying to teach you amidst the seemingly endless cycle of boredom and nothingness that you seem to find yourself in. If you truly were to take the time to look back over this past year though, I think that you also would be able to say that God is and has been good, especially to those who love Him. I can't help but think of the promise that comes from Romans 8:28. Here is what it says, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them that are called according to His purpose.” (ESV) I pray that you will take the time to look back to see how this has been true in your own life.
As I continue to sit here, in my parent’s basement, and continue to think and ponder over the last year I truly can't help but be amazed at how God has worked out all of the difficulties, the fears and wonderings of my heart in the middle of the night for my good. I dare say that He has even taken my shortcomings, my inadequacies; my sin and caused it all to work together for good. I hope, not just for my good, but even for the good of those around me. For as I have been strengthened, challenged and grown, I pray that I can be an encouragement and challenge to those around me as well. It is often by looking at the past that we can be encouraged about the future. Not just our own past but also the pasts of others. I love reading through the Old Testament and seeing how God was so good and faithful to His people despite the fact that they turned their backs on Him over and over again. I especially love to read, pray and think about how God told Hosea to go and “take to yourself a wife of whoredom and have children of whoredom, for the land commits great whoredom by forsaking the Lord.” (Hosea 1:2 ESV) What a picture of God's great love for us. He has called us to Himself, reconciled us to Himself through Jesus; despite the fact that we continue to leave Him and seek after other things in this world over and over again. Maybe that is where you find yourself at the end of this year. Maybe you are in the place where you have once again turned your back on God and find yourself living in the world and seeking after the “pleasures” that it has to offer. If that is the case I would encourage you to come running back to God. Confess your sin to Him. Find that sweet forgiveness and wholeness in your soul once again. It may not be that when you look back you see many bright spots this last year, but the New Year can certainly begin with one... can't it?
by Justin Kantonen
originally posted January 2009
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