January 1^st, 2015. A new year.  I imagine the first day of each year as a day of hope, a day of positive thoughts, a day of new starts. The jokes and memes of social media insinuate that most people’s goals and resolutions will last exactly one day, until Jan 2. For many, this is true. For many others, this day really is the start of a lasting change they are looking to make. For some, it is a habit they need to break, or form. For others, it is a specific goal they are trying to reach. Health, finances, work, relationships, etc. The new year represents a fresh start.

For a lot of people, the last year was a great year, where they were able to see some or many of their goals accomplished. They feel good about what happened, and they are excited to see what else they can accomplish in the next year. For others, the last year was a terrible year. Perhaps a loss of a loved one, or the loss of a job, some circumstance beyond their control which worked to crush them. Those people, I imagine, look to this new year in one of two ways. One, with nervous excitement, hoping that it will be better than last year, and imagining that nothing could get worse. Two, assuming that fate will mete out more portions of ill will, and resigning themselves to the idea that their year will be bad, so they don’t allow themselves the luxury of hope.

My heart is broken for those people who had a bad year last year. My hope is that they would be able to give room for hope to infuse their life and take the place of despair.

I am not a fan of unrealistic goals, and I have set many for myself throughout my life. I want to lose 50 lbs in one month! I want to learn a new language in 6 months! I want to travel to 20 foreign countries this year! I want to earn $1mil this year! All of these are great goals, but are obviously unrealistic. So I want to try and focus on realistic goals this year. Can I help someone else who had a bad year last year? In what way can I help another friend reach a goal that they couldn’t last year? Can I do something to help my family to reach a goal this year? Can I help give my children a better education? Or create better social interaction for them? Can I find someone to mentor me this year? Can I be a mentor to someone?

You’ll note that up to this point I have not factored the Lord into this equation. Now, I will do so. And that changes everything. You see, I believe that I don’t have the strength to carry any of these goals this year, even the realistic ones. I do believe, however, that God has goals for me this year. Not only goals, but the strength, patience, wisdom, discernment, and self-discipline that I will need to meet each of those goals. And that changes my perspective on everything.

It becomes not so much a question of how much weight I want to lose, but a question of how healthy do I need to be for my family, and what good health habits can I create for my family? A question not of how much money would I like to make this year, but a question of leaning more on the Lord for His provision and seeking His direction on how to spend that money. Not of how many countries might I get to go to this year, but finding God’s purpose in where I am at each moment of each day.

With God’s goals and plans in mind, it allows a person to have real tangible hope. Not false hope, not hope that will be crushed again and again, but real hope. Hope that rests in the knowledge that God’s plans are good. They are always good. They are always plans to grow, to become more like Him, to experience Him in a deeper way, to know Him more.

This, of course, doesn’t mean that this year will be perfect. For many who place their trust in the Lord it will still mean hardship, failure, and pain. There will still be much loss experienced, there will still be many goals unmet and unfinished. For some, it will be a blow that feels unmanageable. The loss of a loved one or career may require drastic changes and huge steps backwards. Maybe it means losing a home to foreclosure, or losing a relationship with a parent or spouse who passes away. Maybe for some it means losing a child. Such devastation cannot be planned for, and certainly can’t be discussed in any accurate way in a format like this. It will mean pain, more pain than most of us could imagine. But even in the depths of that lonely place, God has plans for a person’s life.

So as I look forward to another new year, I can be honest and say that I have no idea what it will hold for me, for my family. But I do know that it will contain hope. 

My prayer for you is that your new year contains hope as well.