If you were wondering, it is a New Year! It is 2026, I can’t believe it!
You may feel compelled to have New Years goals, or maybe you are on the other side and feel tired. After Christmas we can get into a slump, wondering, what is there to look forward to? Easter is coming, but that is 88 days from now.
Around this time, we can fall into two camps:
People who find new things to do,
and
People who stop doing and feel tired after the holidays.
Neither group is better than the other, but I have noticed both groups are filled with distractions. It is easy to get distracted by New Year’s goals, imagining a world that is not the one we are in, or thinking on the past. It is easy to move so fast we forget to live.
So, let’s take this moment to talk about the light of Jesus Christ. God’s love is all around us, breaking into our busyness and breaking into our exhaustion. God is with us in whatever we are going through. However, from firsthand experience, I know it is difficult to see God when we are moving too fast or feel worn out.
So, if you find yourself in that season, remember this: God’s love is always there no matter how we feel. This is a hard lesson, but it’s a beautiful one.
There is this woman named Ann Voskamp who wrote a book called One Thousand Gifts. She made a decision to write over a thousand things she was thankful for. She did this because she was tired of being stressed all the time. Ann’s younger sister was killed in a tragedy, and that had made her feel like nothing would ever be whole again.
So, she started this journey of writing what she was thankful for, and at first it was horrible. She felt like writing was a waste of time. But by the end of the year, she had become a completely different person. She would notice the sunlight coming through the leaves and go out of her way to appreciate goodness. Before she knew it, even in her grief, she was happier.
Her story taught me that sadness and happiness can happen at the same time. They do not compete with each other, but are how we live life as people who have been broken but still have hope.
Her story shows the powerful truth that cultivating a habit of gratitude can improve compassion, battle depression, lower stress levels, and lead to a more fulfilled life. Of course, it’s not a magic fix, but I do think back to the scripture that says, “Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” (1 Thessalonians 5:18)
What if God was showing, through this scripture, a way to cultivate more joy when life gets hard?
God’s light never stops shining. God’s love for us never stops. However, we can feel like it does. We can feel alone. We can feel tired. We can use busyness as a crutch instead of comforting our struggles.
So, when life gets hard this year, or when we get too busy, let’s remember to be thankful. Let’s remember gratitude, and never forget there is light in the darkness—the light of Jesus Christ.
~ Pastor Madison
