AS Christmas slips by and we are moving toward the beginning of 2024, the year already holds a great amount of uncertainty. The election year will undoubtedly be raucous and it’s a good bet that even after the election there will be months of divisive turmoil…no matter who wins.  China is an ever-increasing threat to us both economically and militarily.  The conflict in Ukraine goes on and Israel is still at war.  The financial guru’s in America are predicting everything from a stock market boom to a crash landing for the economy in 2024.  Some new variant of Covid is wreaking havoc in China again and will inevitably find its way around the world.  On top of all that, every time I hear a news flash or read a report, I wonder if I can trust the source to be telling me the truth.  Sometimes life feels like a ship tossed back and forth in a storm in open sea being driven every direction by wind and waves it cannot control.

More than ever, life needs an anchor to tie us to something unchanging and true.  We need a north star by which we can check our compass each day as we feel blown of coarse by every news broadcast and dire warning that comes across social media.  I believe that anchor will be needed more than ever in the year to come.  Christmas reminds me that we have such an anchor in Jesus Christ…God with us.  I was struck this year with the Christmas carols that I heard once again, remembering that they have been sung for centuries now. Their story is not the latest fad or crafted narrative,   The story of the Christ child was prophesied in the days of Isaiah and has been told over and over for 2000 years. 

History has not swept this story away or changed it’s essential truths although some have made great efforts to do so.  On the other end of Christmas, Easter stands in the same way. “God with us” being tortured and killed and then rising on the third day to take his place next to the Father in heaven waiting to return and clean up this giant mess we call earth. That coming feels more imminent every day now.  No matter what spins around us, the Word of God is truth.  Jesus is truth.  He is our anchor for every storm.  But here is the thing.  A casual relationship with Jesus won’t hold in the storm.  A vague knowledge of God’s truth will not steer you through a dark night.  

When we think about drafting our New Year’s resolutions to get in shape, be more financially responsible, make a career change, laugh more, live in the moment more, etc., we need to put more Jesus, more prayer, and more Word at the top of the list. Do it with someone and hold each other accountable.  When the storms blew on Galilee, Jesus slept because he had perfect trust in the Father. When our seas get rough this year, we can rest if we have perfect trust in the Son who has power to command the storms in our life. Make him your greatest priority.