HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

We are a few days into the new year. Some of you may say I should have posted this before the year started—or at least closer to the beginning. That may be true. Either I was disobedient to God in not posting this sooner, or God’s timing is perfect—and this may be exactly when He wanted this message shared.  

Either way some of you need this encouragement now in order to see this season as truly a “new” year.  Others of you need to be reminded that just because you didn’t keep your New Year’s resolution for even a week does not mean you threw your goal for the year away. 

I am not one for New Year’s resolutions. In fact, the last time I even considered one was probably in my early to mid-teens. For you younger folks, that was in the 1900s. I’m not against them. If a resolution helps you focus on becoming a better person—especially in your walk with God—then by all means, do it. They just aren’t for me.

If you did make a New Year’s resolution, I want to encourage you to be a person of your word. James 5:12 and Matthew 5:37 both speak to making oaths, and New Year’s resolutions are a kind of oath. No matter how many times you fail this year, don’t abandon it. Try again.

I once had a T-shirt when I played high school football that read:
“Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.”

You don’t rise on your own strength or power, but through the power of Jesus. Be a person of your word—even if God is the only one who knows what your resolution is. In fact, He is the most important reason to keep it.

Whether you made a New Year’s resolution or not, I’d like you to consider this passage of Scripture. Write it down. Print it out. Put it somewhere you’ll see it regularly this year.

Isaiah 43:18–19 says:

Forget what happened in the past, and do not dwell on events from long ago.
I am going to do something new. It is already happening. Don’t you recognize it?
I will clear a way in the desert. I will make rivers on dry land.

God laid this verse on my heart several weeks ago, and I’ve shared it with a couple of Bible study groups I lead. I believe this applies not just to 2026, but to any time God wants to do something new in us.

ChatGPT helped me create the image above. As I reflected on this passage, I saw 2025 as a desert season for many. Some of you may have experienced what felt like a spiritual desert this past year. You knew God was there, but it still felt dry.

I grew up in the desert, and when spring came—or when the rains arrived—the desert would blossom. Everything turned green, and flowers bloomed. That image captures the second half of Isaiah’s promise: God bringing refreshing streams into dry places.

The first part of the passage tells us to forget the past and not dwell on what has already happened. That doesn’t mean we ignore the past altogether. We should evaluate it and learn from it. But the danger comes when we become so wrapped up in the past that we can’t see what God is doing now.

It’s like a horse wearing blinders—unable to see anything except what’s directly in front of it. Some of you have placed the past in front of you instead of looking toward the future. You’re so focused on what was that you can’t see what is or what can be.

For many, the past hasn’t just been difficult—it’s been painful. Tragic. Traumatic. And while it may feel familiar or even comfortable to hold onto it, God says, “Let it go.” Forget it. Don’t dwell on it. There’s a difference between learning from the past and being trapped by it.

God goes on to say, “I am going to do something new.” It’s much easier for Him to do something new in your life when you’re not clinging so tightly to what’s behind you. He adds, “It is already happening. Don’t you recognize it?”

If we’re holding on to the past, we may completely miss the new thing God is already doing.

Jesus echoes this in Luke 9:62:
“Whoever starts to plow and looks back is not fit for God’s kingdom.”

Why? Because if you’re looking behind you, you won’t plow a straight line. You won’t see obstacles ahead. You’ll stumble, crash, or wander aimlessly. That’s what dwelling on the past does to us.

When our eyes are focused forward, God can lead us more clearly. You may not recognize the new thing He’s doing right away. It may take days, weeks, or even months. Keep seeking Him. Keep asking Him to show you what He’s doing in your life.

Don’t look back.
Look forward.

Prepare yourself for the new thing God is going to do in 2026.