During the Holy Communion service on New Year's Eve at the church, we said a prayer together: “Father, we give this past year to You. We surrender our failures, regrets, and disappointments to You, because they are no longer of any use to us. Now, make us new human beings, forgetting what's behind and focusing on what's in front of us.
"We entrust to You all our hopes and dreams for the future. Purify all of that with Your Spirit so that our will truly reflects Your will for us.
"As we stand at the threshold of the new year, encourage us with past successes, challenge us with the power of Your word, and guide us with the presence of Your Holy Spirit."
Looking both ways at every transition is a good thing. When Joshua led Israel, God told him to consider the past and the future: "My servant Moses is dead; therefore get ready now, cross the Jordan River, you and all this nation, to the land that I will give to them, to the people of Israel" (Joshua 1:2). Then He promised, "As I was with Moses, so I will be with you... Do not shrink and lose heart, because the Lord, your God, is with you wherever you go" (verse 5,9).
By trusting God, we can look back and look forward, then step boldly into the new year —David McCasland
PAST VICTORIES
GIVES COURAGE TO FACE THE FUTURE
* Take from Daily Reflections