Joy, celebration and embracing change

At the start of a New Year I normally take some time (after everyone has gone to bed) and reflect on the previous year. It will have had challenges and disappointments but it will also have had times of joy and celebration. I know I can celebrate that God was with me through it all.

The wonder of the New Year for me is that it is New. I don't know what is ahead but I know that whatever it is God will be there.

On December 25, 1939, as the citizens of the British Empire faced another world war, King George VI, not usually a compelling speaker, inspires and reassures his people by quoting a poem: "I said to the man who stood at the Gate of the Year, 'Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown.'

And he replied, 'Go out into the darkness, and put your hand into the Hand of God. That shall be better than light, and safer than a known way'."

My resolution at the beginning of another new year remains unchanged. I want to bring that message of hope to the world beginning with my local community here on the City-side and further afield. It is a resolution that I first need to hear in my own life.

Personally I need to remember that no matter what challenges lie ahead for me and my family God is right there with me. I also want to be open to the changes God is calling me to make in my life and ministry. Where will he lead me in 2011? I don't know the answer to that question but I do know that he has taken my hand and that he is the Good Shepherd.

I will not be afraid when he is with me.

I don't believe we should set unattainable goals at the beginning of a new year only to be depressed or guilty and not achieving them. Face a new year with a clean slate, a forgiving God, and a Good Shepherd at your side.

Happy New Year!