My wish for you for 2021 is liberation from the disappointment of 2020. I wish you the ability to forgive “the reality of 2020” for all the things you perceive it has robbed you of and look for the transformation God has brought about through challenging our life-styles.
There are many disappointments which want to carry themselves over from 2020 into the new year.
Of course, the pandemic is the first that comes to mind and the fears we have associated with it. Whether it is fear that this is a conspiracy of a shadow government, and attempt to control people by use of masks and quarantine, a fear of contracting the virus itself, or the fear of what is happening to the economy because of the shut-down, we need to let them go. None of this surprised our all-powerful God, and I have to trust that He will make all things work together for our good if we love Him and surrender and follow the purpose for which He created us. I need to trust in His love for me, and allow His perfect love to cast out fear of the effects of the past and the possibilities of the future.
I have stubbornly refused to use the term the “new normal” because I won’t embrace the way we are having to live right now as the way we will live in the future. I prefer “inter-rim normal” as it indicates we are in a time of transition. I doubt we will ever return to the life-style we lived prior to 2020, but I trust that the “normal” we are creating for the future will be passed through God’s hands. I may not like it, but I will surrender to it—since really all my fears, complaints and arguments will change nothing . My self-focus only leads me into a self-preservation stance which serves to harden my heart toward those I am called to love.
The election of 2020 was another major disappointment, no matter which side of the aisle you choose to sit on. One of the telling “disappointments” for me was watching the first debate with some of our staff who, shocked at the disrespectful behavior of the candidates asked me, “These are the people who run your country?” I can find little to respect in the campaign, election, or transition of 2020. I also find little to respect in the way many of us Christ-followers have responded to these situations. So the election has produced a deep disappointment in me.
I am disappointed by the lack of fellowship forced on us by the closing of churches, the halt of meeting in Bible Studies and just the fun activities of being part of the Body of Christ. Some feel that this is destroying the church. Perhaps God is using these times to transform the His church.
Rather than relying on a pastor to “feed” me, as an adult, I am forced to feed myself on the Word, and disciple those under my authority, whether they be children, employees, or residents. I can no longer give over to the institution of the church those things which are required of me as a member of the church.
Fellowship has looked different for me this year. The organizational fellowship fostered by the institutional church has enabled me to take little responsibility for the fellowship of believers beyond just showing up. I have been forced outside of my comfort zone to reach out to people to connect with them on a more intimate level than ever before. I may have fellowshipped with fewer believers during the shut-down, but the encounters I have had have been richer and more meaningful—have been more life giving—than any group activities I have attended in churches. I am grateful for Zoom and Facebook Video Messenger which have given me the ability to see those I reach out to, whether in Guatemala or far away.
I am sorely disappointed in the way the pandemic has affected those who are most vulnerable: children, the elderly, the homeless, those with disabilities. The structures of government, social services, education and even the church have failed to care for those who are easily forgotten. Again, though, I see how, as a society, we have handed over to institutions those responsibilities which rightfully belong to families and to the Body of Christ. I have personally been challenged to find new and creative ways of reaching out to these disenfranchised groups. It is much harder to do now, it requires more of me personally, but it is not impossible. I am learning how to die to myself, to my own comfort, to serve those around me.
I could go on and on, but I think you get the idea.
But:
”What if the challenges of the current moment are actually offering us an invitation to let go of our ideas of freedom and mobility and to consciously participate with reality in a new way?” ~~Richard Rohr
Can you consider this for just one moment? Will you open yourself to the possibility that God is calling us to die to our ideas of what life should be and live in the moment of the life that IS?
Please don’t think I am asking you to ignore the disappointments you have suffered at the hands of 2020. Far from it. I am asking you to join me in acknowledging the disappointments, feel their pain, lament them to the Father, and surrender 2021 to His good pleasure. I am asking you to no longer hold on to the hurts of 2020, but embrace with hope what the Lord has for you in 2021, trusting that His heart toward you is good.
Happy New Year! Let’s make it the best year yet.
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