Goodbye 2021.

Another year comes to a close. I'll watch newsreels and read stories of the happenings of 2021-some encouraging, many of them sad. For me, it was a year like any other. I discovered more of the need to rely on the Lord. I won't regret the hardships that found me, or the mistakes I made. Whether the trials and problems experienced were of my own making or something else, each served its purpose. Some taught me practical lessons of what not to do, or I should have done. All taught me to trust my God and lean more fully into him.

I learned to walk by faith and not by sight. (2 Corinthians 5:6-7) When I failed at that, but stressed and worried about fixing it on my own, it was one more lesson to trust in the care of the Shepherd.

I learned that everything that happened in the old year can be used for my benefit, because God causes all things to work together for good for those who love him and have been called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28-29)

So, as the New Year dawns, there are truths I want to carry with me into the year 2019-and every year thereafter.


• God is my Creator. He knew every part of me before he knit me together in my mother's womb. Every day of my life is written in my Creator's book. (Psalm 139:13-16)


• Those who seek the Lord will lack no good thing. Knowing this, I'll be grateful for everything God supplies. (Psalm 34:10)


• My Heavenly Father knows what I need even before I tell him. (Matthew 6:31-34) When my focus is on the Savior, my life falls into place.


• God will supply everything I need in this coming year, whether it is a physical need, the courage to face a trial, or peace with God's will. (Philippians 4:19 and Psalm 23:1)


• I am a child of the living God! (Galatians 3:26) Through faith in Jesus Christ, I've taken off the old self and put on the righteousness of Christ.


• My personal worth is not based on what I have done, but on the fact that God loves me and calls me his child. (1 John 3:1)

I had nothing to do with these blessings. God is and always has been in complete control.

• I couldn't have found Jesus on my own. God drew me to Jesus for salvation. (John 6:44)


• I didn't choose Jesus. He chose me. (John 15:16) Jesus made the choice to love and die to save me from sin, before I knew him.

For your recreational reading.