Dear Connection Friend,

It's the New Year! Now is the time to evaluate the year behind us and resolve to make changes in the coming year. I think we look forward to a new year for the same reasons we feel a glimmer of hope when we see a sunrise or begin a new week; we sense a new beginning. Maybe you'll determine to "Turn over a new leaf," do things differently, or start fresh. I pray that you'll purpose in your heart to experience God in a radically new way, to "love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind" (Luke 10:27).

In Joshua 3, the Israelites were on the threshold of a new experience ― preparing to enter the Promised Land. It had been the subject of their conversations and the object of their dreams for 40 years. Now they were steps away from entering the land, but it wasn't what they expected. Have you ever had that happen? You looked forward to a change, but it didn't turn out quite the way you planned?

I've discovered that one of the problems with dreaming is that reality never quite lives up to the fantasy. This is what happened to the Israelites. Rather than finding a welcoming committee to usher them into the land, they found the Jordan River at flood stage, separating them from their blessing. They had traveled through the desert for 40 long boring years only to face a tidal wave of new circumstances.

I wouldn't be surprised if we find ourselves in a situation very similar to the Israelites as we march into the coming year. As we move forward there are certainties and uncertainties, bothon a personal and national level. But take heart! The seemingly impossible things we might face are really opportunities for our faith to grow. As Joshua told the children of Israel, "Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go" (Joshua 1:9).

Whatever the New Year holds, you need not be afraid because God is with you! Corrie Ten Boom said, "Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God." In the coming year, choose to rely on God's strength and follow Him by faith as the children of Israel followed Him into the Promised Land.

In His strong love,

Skip Heitzig

I really like what Pastor Skip says hear as he emphasis on the fact that we don't know what the future holds, yet we know who holds the future. And hopefully we personally know Him who holds our very breath in the palm of His hands. He can change things up for us just so that we can learn to trust in Him. I don't want to put my trust in uncertain riches but in the living God. Tomorrow is not promised to no man.