Were not our hearts burning within us......? Luke 24:32
As you stand at this crossroads looking over your shoulders on the year behind you and walking hopefully into the unknown of the year ahead, my questions to you are how will you walk and with whom will you walk?
There is no doubt that the year we are leaving behind has been a difficult one for many of us. For some more traumatic than others; for some, more hardships than has ever been seen in one’s life and more sorrow and pain than it was imagined that anyone could bear. But you survived the year and by reading this you are confirming that you have made it to this new year, and by God’s grace you continue to be hopeful.
How will you walk?
As I asked earlier, how will you walk?
This is not about posture, but about attitude. What is the approach to the new year that you will adopt as you go forward? Sometimes the lessons of the past can assist with how we formulate our approach. What were the lessons of 2021 which you are taking on that will aid in this part of the journey? I have heard people talking about a few. Some of these are,
Be prepared.
Persons have discovered the need to be ever ready and prepared for whatever life offers as no more than today is guaranteed each of us. Being prepared means not only the physical arrangements you make for your family and yourself relevant to their wellbeing, but also the preparation of your soul to meet your God. The stories of some persons who have died from Covid-19, include telling of a drowning sensation, or breathlessness being experienced. Many of these persons knew this would have been their last breath, I have lost family and some very good friends. None of these persons up to the time of death could have said they were totally prepared for the way death came.
Time is precious
The other thing I have learnt is to spend more time on activities and persons who are important. Not on useless, wasteful and meaningless activities. One of the reasons the men walking with Jesus on the Emmaus Road, claimed that their hearts burned within them was because they were having a meaningful conversation. They had no space for conspiracy theories and spurious speculations. They met Jesus. They appreciated him, and they missed him. This was echoed in their comment that they had hoped that he was going to be the one to redeem Israel. We know that Jesus was right there with them. I want to suggest that some persons who have anchored themselves to conspiracy theories and speculations about climate change and covid-19, have held these positions because of an unwillingness to change their actions to make this world a better and safer place for them and their neighbours.
With whom are you walking?
Who are your companions as you journey into the new year? I once heard that “he who walks alone walks fast, but he who walks with company, walks far.” Let us try to walk with good walking partners, persons who can inspire us, who can take us to a level beyond where we are, persons who can teach us, who can interpret for us, who can invest into our lives, persons who will speak truth to us; persons who will be honest with us and persons who never think integrity is something to be hidden (Phil. 4:8-9).
So, you can choose whom you will walk with. Persons who either add to your life or take away from your life. Do not let internalized shame cause you to hang out with the wrong persons. Jesus has delivered you from that, claim that victory and walk with confidence.
As you walk....... Let us ask God to “teach us His path”; Let us ask God to empower us to “speak the truth’; let us love one another and let us look out for each other.
I end this reflection with thanks to all who have been my partners in prayer, who have committed themselves with me in the service of the Lord; who have given sacrificially for the ministry and work of the Lord. I thank you. We would not have made it this far without you and God has blessed us for a purpose as He has more work for us. The words of two verses of a poem, “Down the road” by Katy Kauffman captures for me the journey as we continue,
I see my crooked footprints,
Where I hobbled steadily along.
As I squint harder, I see something else.
I see the evidence of a throng.
Footprints of seen and unseen travelers.
How can it be?
What are their names
But hope, friendship, and mercy?
We are not alone, so let us walk good friends.
Trevor Edwards