Well, 2025 is drawing to a close even as I write these words. The old year is ending with or without my permission. Either way, time is moving forward whether or not I am ready to begin the new year. I don’t feel ready, perhaps because meeting the challenges of this past year leaves me at a disadvantage as I enter the new year. Does this describe you as well, dear reader? Do you feel drained and depleted, needing a respite and a refueling of your body or your mind or your spirit – or all three before embarking on the journey awaiting you in the coming year? I often identify with the apostle Paul’s description of life as he describes it in Corinthians like this –

“We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.” (2 Corinthians 4:8-10)

Those words describe how I feel too often – “hard pressed but not crushed”, . . . “struck down, but not destroyed.” Why? Why am I not crushed, in despair, abandoned, or destroyed? Because I am never alone. My Heavenly Father is always with me, always watching over me. God was with Daniel in the lion’s den. He was with Daniel’s three friends when they were put into King Nebuchadnezzar’s furnace. God was with the Israelites while they wandered through the desert. He was the pillar of fire by night and the cloud by day that protected and guided them on their journey. You and I have the promise of God’s presence too, just as they did –

“The Lord Himself goes before you and will be with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.” (Deuteronomy 31:8)

Those words are both comforting and encouraging to me as I enter into this new year – a year of unknowns and of uncertainty, a year of hopes and of dreams, a year that will most certainly contain both grief and joy, a year that I can face with courage rather than fear because there is Someone who walks with me through all of it.

“My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. He will not let your foot slip – He who watches over you will not slumber; indeed, He who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord watches over you – the Lord is your shade at your right hand; the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord will keep you from all harm – He will watch over your life; the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.” (Psalm 121:2-8)

Even when I feel alone and overwhelmed with life’s circumstances, I can know that I am most certainly NOT alone. I am reminded of the story of Elisha and his servant –

“When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early the next morning, an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. ‘Oh, my lord, what shall we do?’ the servant asked. ‘Don’t be afraid,’ the prophet answered. ‘Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.’ And Elisha prayed, ‘O Lord, open his eyes so he may see.’ Then the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.” (2 Kings 6:15-17)

Did you catch that? There are more with you and with me than there are with the enemy of our souls who seeks to destroy us. My prayer for the new year? Lord, open my eyes to see – to see You – to see those who need to hear about You and how much You love them – to see that I am not alone but am surrounded by You and by those with You. I will take to heart these words in this new year –

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.” (Hebrews 12:1)

I don’t know what lies ahead in 2026 for me BUT – I do know that I am ready to continue running the race marked out for me because I do not run alone and I do not face the future alone. My Heavenly Father is always with me through it all – lions’ dens, fires, floods, unmovable mountains and deep valleys – God is there with me. I have His word on that.

“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. If I say, ‘Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,’ even the darkness will not be dark to You; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to You.” (Psalm 139:7-12)

“But now, this is what the Lord says – . . . ‘Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are Mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.’ ” (Isaiah 43:1-2)

God’s presence abiding with me, brings me comfort and gives me much needed courage as I face whatever lies ahead. I need not fear the fires, the deep waters. any deserts, mountains or any other treacherous terrain that lies ahead of me in the new year. I am not promised an easy journey, but I am promised that my Redeemer will be with me every step of the way. And that’s more than enough for me. Jesus told His disciples –

“In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)

Knowing that God has the victory in my life and in yours too, dear readers, gives me the courage to keep walking forward in faith every day, knowing that in the end good overcomes evil, light overcomes darkness and love overcomes hate. When I am going through the trials of this life, which come unbidden and inevitably, when I am feeling “hard pressed on every side”, I remember these words –

” ‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’ ” (Isaiah 29:11)

I am entering this new year already bruised and battle weary from the past year. Maybe you are too? BUT – let these words remind us that we do not run this life race in vain nor do we run it alone.

“If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all – how will He not also, along with Him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died – more than that, who was raised to life – is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? . . . No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:31-39)

So, take heart! You and I are “more than conquerors” and nothing will separate us from God’s love given to us through His Son, Jesus Christ. I can enter into this new year with confidence and courage and hope and purpose because my Creator God, my Heavenly Father, walks with me (and with you, too) every step of the way as I follow where He leads.

so walk on into this new year with God, walk in faith with purpose, with perseverance and with joy!

sincerely, Grace Day