that’s right, I said walking, not running or sprinting BUT neither did I say crawling or limping into the New Year – even if some of us may feel today as if that is how we are entering into this New Year, perhaps weak and wounded, going at a slower pace than we would like – perhaps entering into this new year from a position of perceived defeat rather than victory –

Nevertheless, the new year is here and I just walked into it, literally – that is to say, I just took my first walk of the New Year. Ironically, I took this walk not somewhere new, but in an old, familiar place, but one that I have not walked at all in the last several years. The route or path was full of memories even though this time of year it looks very different from what I remember. That’s because I used to walk this place in summer or fall, when it is in full bloom with wildflowers, community gardens, all kinds of wildlife and plenty of other walkers.

Today is bitingly cold and windy, the landscape brown and barren, except for some cattails and other tall brown grasses. Still, I find beauty in the stark barrenness of the landscape and of the trees, and I take comfort in knowing that the time is coming when this same landscape will again be full of color and life.

This is the same place I remember, just in a different season. I walk alone, remembering all the times I walked this path with a friend as we shared and prayed our way along the route until we would arrive back where we started. Actually though, today I was not alone. My Heavenly Father was walking with me, as He always does. I’m just more aware of His Presence when I’m by myself.

I am reminded that God walked with Adam and Eve in the garden “in the cool of the day.” God has been walking with His people from the very beginning and He’s still doing it today. God told Abraham –

“Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you.” (Genesis 12:1)

God would be going with Abraham to show him the way. I feel like God does that for me every day. He doesn’t send me off alone – He walks with me to guide me, to direct, inform and teach me along the way. This is a good thing because I am directionally challenged. I can so easily lose my way and my focus and my purpose as I walk out my life’s journey. But I have the promise of His Presence even when I lose my way or get off course –

“Where can I go from Your Spirit? Where can I flee from Your Presence? If I go up to the heavens, You are there; if I make my bed in the depths, You are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there Your hand will guide me, Your right hand will hold me fast.” (Psalm 139:7-10)

I especially like the promise that my Heavenly Father’s “right hand will hold me fast.” This knowledge, this truth, gives me both comfort and courage as I walk forward into this new year. I welcome both, as it is the comfort of His Presence that gives me the courage I need to face the uncertainties and the inevitable challenges this new year will surely bring to me. With my Heavenly Father’s hand holding me fast, I am able to walk into this new year with grit, grace and gratitude – knowing I do not walk alone.

That doesn’t mean my walking is always graceful or that my walking conditions are always ideal – far from it. Very few moments do I find myself “walking on water” like Peter. I love those dramatic moments when my faith overpowers my fear and I step out in obedience. I step out of my boat like Peter did, leaving behind what I trusted in, instead walking toward Jesus across a stormy sea, trusting only in Him. I have eyes only for Jesus – I am walking on water – until I notice the storm surrounding me and I began to sink like Peter did. BUT – as with Peter, it is in that very moment God’s hand holds me fast and rescues me.

“But when he (Peter) saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, ‘Lord, save me!’ Immediately Jesus reached out His hand and caught him.” (Matthew 14:30-31)

My walking will not always be in pleasant places during this coming year. BUT – God’s Presence walking with me will make all the difference. Like King David, I will probably walk through many valleys in 2025, and some will be dark valleys, like David’s valley of the shadow of death. However, look how David describes his experience of walking with God –

“He guides me in paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.” (Psalm 23:3-5)

Even when I am walking this world’s darkest valleys, I don’t have to be afraid! (“I will fear no evil”) I have the comfort of God’s Presence. And even while I am walking my valleys, my cup overflows! God sees to that. Will I be walking in any more difficult places than valleys surrounded by my enemies? Well, I imagine I’ll face a few fiery trials, aka. furnaces again this year. Remember Jesus said, “In this world you will have trouble.”

However, I recall the furnace experience of Daniel’s three friends and I am encouraged. Remember they were bound up and thrown into a furnace heated seven times hotter than normal to assure their destruction. But when King Nebuchadnezzar looked into the furnace, he got a surprise –

” ‘Weren’t there three men that we tied up and threw into the fire?’ They replied, ‘Certainly, O king.’ He said, ‘Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods.’ ” (Daniel 3:24-25)

A furnace is not a place I would choose to take a walk, but the three men were “unbound and unharmed – walking around in the fire” – because God was there with them, the fourth One in the fire. As long as I’m walking with God, I can walk with courage. Although, climbing mountains does seem a bit daunting, to put it mildly. Not so with God.

“The Sovereign Lord is my strength; He makes my feet like the feet of a deer, He enables me to go on the heights.” (Habakkuk 3:19)

Walking on water, walking through dark, dangerous valleys, walking in fiery furnaces or walking up steep mountains – I never know where walking with God will take me, but I do know He will be with me every step of the way – and that is enough, more than enough actually. I have these marching (walking) orders for 2025 –

“And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” (Micah 6:8)

Sometimes I walk with friends, sometimes by myself – but never alone. God’s right hand always holds me fast. That’s His promise. When I fear that I am losing my way, I am reminded that –

“I am to walk by faith, not by sight.” (2 Corinthians 5:7)

My life is a walk of faith from start to finish. Currently I am continuing on said walkabout knowing this to be true –

“but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” (Isaiah 40:31)

walking with you, dear readers, into God’s new year – today I walked not on water, but into the wind and the cold – tomorrow? who knows? (well, actually God knows) I have the promise of His Presence, the assurance that I will walk without fainting, the knowledge that God will direct the paths that I walk – that’s enough for today – enough for me to put one foot in front of the other – I don’t need to see the end – I walk by faith today, tomorrow and every day. To that end I will –

“Trust in the Lord with all my heart and lean not on my own understanding; in all my ways I will acknowledge Him, and He will direct my paths.” (Proverbs 3:5-6)

sincerely, Grace Day