It’s New Year’s Eve and chances are that you’ve seen some shows or videos that are wrapping up the year; the most popular songs, the top news stories, the most viral online videos. In reflecting on any of those things people try to tap into the currents of the culture and draw out themes and meaning.
Star of Wonder, too, is drawing to a close. For six days we have reflected on hope, belonging, compassion, clarity, and renewal. What might we find if we were to discern a stream that has flowed through these sessions?
God has been pursuing us all along.
In Ezekiel, God promises:
“I myself will look after and tend my sheep.”
God is not waiting or passive. God has not outsourced us to the culture or left us to fend for ourselves. God’s pursuit of us is inevitable. We are going to wander, and when we do, God seeks us. None of us get out of this life unscathed. We will be wounded, and when we are, God binds us up. God seeks us.
Psalm 23 paints the same picture. The shepherd does not eliminate valleys. There is no waving of magic wands that take all the painful experiences away. The shepherd walks or even carries us through them. Many of us enter the new year with the burden of uncertainty. Anxiety rises because we’re just waiting for the other shoe to drop. We can never know what waits just around the corner.
Here’s something we do know:
Jesus goes ahead of us.
Pause now and imagine yourself standing at the threshold of a new year.
Behind you is everything you have experienced. Ahead of you is a road you cannot yet see. Now picture Jesus standing beside you.
Listen quietly.
What is he saying to you? What would it look like to follow him with trust one day at a time?