“An optimist stays up until midnight to see the new year in. A pessimist stays up to make sure the old year leaves.” ~Bill Vaughan (columnist and author)
So here’s the question: Are you entering the new year as an optimist or as a pessimist?
Let me be pessimistic for a moment. 2012 is the year that I will turn FORTY! Ugh…
Now let me be optimistic. 2012 is the year that I’ll celebrate FIVE years here at Northminster! Woohoo!
2012 is also the year that Robin and I will welcome (God-willing) our third child into the world. 2012 is the year that Macy, my four-year-old, starts Kindergarten. 2012 is the year that I’ll get to take Micah (who will be seven by then) to his first opening night movie—of The Hobbit, no less!
But for a lot of us, 2012 will not be an easy year. 2012 will bring a lot of hardship, a lot of suffering, a lot of fear, a lot of anxiety. In fact, even for those who are expecting it to be a great year, 2012 may turn out to be really hard.
I don’t say this to be pessimistic, but to remind us that, whatever circumstances we face, we can always have hope. We can have hope because we have a God who stands with us even in the midst of our difficulty. We can have hope because we have a God who cares about us—so much that he sent his Son into the world. We can have hope because we know that Jesus defeated death when he rose from the tomb. Because of Jesus, death is not the end of the story for us!
As we move into 2012—whether it turns out to be a great year or a hard year—we can move into the future, not as pessimists but as optimists. With that in mind, I want to leave you with one of my favorite passages of hope:
And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” (Revelation 21:3-4)
–Pastor Markus Watson
