This is the season for New Year resolutions, for making plans and setting goals for the year ahead.
We might find that prospect exciting; there are new opportunities and challenges in view, and we look forward with anticipation to what the Lord might do. But the New Year can also be overwhelming. The challenges are so great, the future so uncertain, that we wonder how we will get through 2026.
It is interesting that the Scriptures don’t promise us grace for the coming year, but rather for one day at a time. When Jesus speaks about anxiety, He counsels us not to look further ahead than today: “Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” (Matt.6v34) As one commentator puts it “tomorrow is a promise, not a possession.” If we live our lives anticipating the future we will be prone not only to anxiety but also presumption (James 4v13ff). The Lord gives us one day at a time, and He gives us grace for one day at a time.
Jesus wept
John 11v35 is not only the shortest verse of the New Testament, but also one of the most remarkable. There …