I ran across this New Years post I wrote several years ago and thought it appropriate for 2020. So I changed some dates and names to protect the innocent. It still applies for today.
If you find it hard to believe that 2020 has any chance of holding happiness or hope for you, this post is for you.
At this time of year we can hear friends and family toasting the promise of the new year and basking in the reverberation of songs that speak of jolly seasons, joyful carols, and fa la la la la, la la la la.
Yet behind the smiles and toasts many are still reeling from the smashed expectations of the last happy new year.
- Some lost loved ones last year.
- In the last months of 2019 marriages fell apart.
- Someone still struggles with addiction going into 2020
- Life changed in a moment for some who received devastating news from the doctor.
- Lives have been rocked by personal failure or financial ruin.
WOW Ken! Thanks for the good cheer.
Good cheer is only “good” if it is available to those who aren’t presently experiencing it.
How can there be hope for the new year if one is trembling in the darkness of storms that still rage in their lives as 2019 comes to a close? I have been there… more than once. I promise there is hope! In the midst of the thunder I have seen the light!Seriously, I have seen “THE Light.”
Look at every storm picture in this post. These are wicked, destructive, powerful storms, yet in every photo there is light. Light that proves that the storm is temporary. Light… that is clear evidence that the ‘SON’ is still shining.
I don’t have any psychological secrets to share, magic words to say or expensive medication to suggest. Those may be helpful, but all I know is this: In the darkest of my personal storms I was not destroyed, I saw the light.
It’s the same light that brightened a stable.
It’s the same light that burst forth from a tomb.
Sometimes I had to wait for it, but it never failed to appear.
My 2020 prayer is that you will see it too. That you will look for it follow, it that and discover the one source of Joy that can pierce the darkest of storms.
From our family to yours. Happy New Year! Yeah Really!
Comments
All I can say is what I truly believe in my heart. “If you always look to God nothing, and I mean nothing, is ever really bad.” these hiccups in life are just that Hiccups. With God the mountains are no more than curb cuts in the sidewalks that are on the path to our forever home.
Well said
Just saw your Valentine’s show and wanted to tell you. I actually met an intruder in my whitey tighties at 14 years old. Middle of the night I had just left the bathroom, he threatens me with knife and tells me don’t go anywhere. Good thing I just had. Anyway he took 4 lbs of meat…….from the freezer. Guess I should have used that snap trick. God Bless You, loved the show still laughing.
Wow! What a wonderfully true & hopeful writing!! Yes we have everyone been there! But I never thot of such profound thoughts looking back at the year before! I do not know why I haven’t. Thank you, Ken Davis. You are such an inspiration! My husband & I have bought nearly all of your CDs & several of your books when we heard & saw you last summer in Alaska on the Gaither Cruise. WONDERFUL! We loved every minute!
A very heartfelt truth, Ken. The holiday time is hardest for those who have very real struggles, grief or despair. We can give all the well-wishes that go along with Merry Christmas and Happy New Year but sometimes our neighbor, friend or family member needs a warm hug and a loving reminder that God does bring the sunshine into our lives again if we allow it.
Amen bro!! Thanks for sharing such a wonderful article of hope and faith! It comes exactly in the right momento!! I bless your life and ministry in Jesus name!
During the past two years when I faced breast cancer and then 4 surgeries on my knee… because the original replacement implant became infected and it took months for the doctors to determine that.. then when the spacer was inserted I was on a picc line and iv antibiotic for 7 weeks then a new knee replacement … which ALSO became infected but this time superficially.. and my DH diagnosed with cancerous tumours in his lung, brain, bone and most recently in his liver… when DH collapsed one summer evening.. from a bleeding ulcer …
In all this I was able to keep on.. keeping on .. because I knew I was NOT ALONE ever…. even in the darkest nights battling demons at 3 am… I was and my whole family was safe in the hands of God..
This is so wonderful to remember. My husband passed away Sept 16th. Then my sister passed away OCT. 27th. So I was the same, yeah, right! But I know they’re better off & I don’t really want them back for even one day because they’ll still be sick. I don’t want that. So I look for the Sonshine every day.
Needed this reminder.. I tend to dwell on the fact that I’m still single through yet another holiday season, and stuck in the seemingly endless task of job-hunting, and..and…
I know that I am blessed beyond belief (great family, supportive parents, I get to live at home for free, etc.) and when beyond temporal blessings, Christ is sufficient; it’s just been very tough lately to get that knowledge from my brain to my heart lately..
Thank you for your encouragement Ken. I am going to try and see the Light in the clouds that come my way this year. God bless you and all your family. From Margaret Preston.
Thank you Ken. I appreciate your honest acknowledgement that New Year is not ‘happy’ for everyone. I’ve been writing about that lately too, https://www.wleewarrenmd.com/rough-year/.
When we lost our son in 2013, the holidays became something new for us- a time to realize we were passing into a new year and leaving our son frozen in the past.
With time, of course, God softens these pains and redeems the suffering for His purposes. That’s what Psalm 40 teaches us.
But it takes time and lots of prayer to get to that place where “Happy New Year” feels that way for folks who, as you said, are in the ‘darkest of (their) personal storms.’
Thank you for writing this, and for shining a light for all of us.
God bless you,
Lee
W. Lee Warren, MD
Casper, Wyoming
Very Enlightening (pun intended)!! I realize that through our journey here on earth we will suffer. But like you said if we will look for that light we are assured that we will get through with the grace of God. The Word of God says that He will never leave us nor forsake us. What hope! If we look beyond our griefs then we can be of more help and comfort to others who are in their own turmoils of life. Thank you as always for your wisdom and your humor too! God bless you.
Ken – I was so happy that God put you on my radar – love the joy you exude and the “twisted” sense of humor. I tend to look that way at all of life. When people look at me oddly, I just remind them that I am blonde and they would have had to be there! LOL. God continue to bless you and Diane and the rest of your family in your ministry. Keeping you all in my prayers.
Thank you Ken for your encouraging words and thanks to all who wrote comments. Knowing that you are not alone facing the battles that this world offer us is not easy. Very hard to look up to see the light when you are curved over in pain but when somebody points you to the light you WILL make that extra effort. Nursing a husband with Dementia is not easy excpecially then people are wishing you the best for 2020. But you message is encouraging and we rest in God that He will not give us more than we can handle. Bless you all.
Amen..I just lost my Mom in December..what a way to celebrate Christmas and New Year..Oh I went through the motions but my heart was breaking.. And now in the “New Year” I am in midst of probating a will..and taking care of business..stressful to say the least…But I do know God is with me..I just need a break..rest…to be able to grieve like I want..
Thanks Ken for connecting me to these words. They are exactly what I needed to read. I was expecting something hilarious but I am so glad I was wrong. I lost my daughter-in-law at the end of November. She was a mother to twin 3 years-old boys. We prayed and prayed for God to heal her and He took her to be with Him. I suffered three concussions throughout 2019 and am still not recovered from t hem. I went into deep, dark depression but when I finally looked up, I saw the Light! My wide of 39+years has always stayed with me and continues to pray for me daily. I thank God every day for her and her light also. Ken, may God bless you richly throughout 202 and for many years to come! Thanks again!
Having an attitude of gratitude, no matter the situation. God is in control in everything. Why do loved ones go to Heaven, why do we have an incurable health problem, why are our children rebelling against God , why is the world in such chaos? Satan knows he only has a short time and he continues the lies he told at Eden because we are flawed children of God awaiting the place He is preparing for us because He loves us. ❤️❤️
Thank you for your wonderful message and reminder that the Son will shine again through the clouds of disparities. I lost my mum, my mother in law, a cousin, a dear retired pastor friend and my dog late last year. My career in teaching has finally come to an end, my church was closed and I had to find a new one , though none could compare to the close loving relationships that were at the other one. The school that I taught at for 30 years no longer wants me to be a grandma help and I felt lost. After New Year’s Day God told me he had a new task for me to do evangelising children and using my musical ability. Now I have hope for the future and a reason to get up each day.
Thanks Ken for sharing this. No matter how old the post gets, it will always Hold Truth because it points to The Truth!
Thank you for tonight19/01/2020
we watched you on the ACC channel
from Melbourne Australia
We had a very sad yr last year, My beautiful Mum passed away in Jan2019 and then my beautiful sister passed away in Oct 2019 she was the baby of 4 siblings she was 67yrs old and died suddenly from Cancer.
May God Bless you and your beautiful Family