How To Face The New Year

Hab. 3: 17-19

How did we make it through 2009? How will we make it in 2010? Will we survive in 2010? How are we going to manage with all the new taxes? Will I lose my job? Will I ever be able to find a job? How will my children go to school? Why is there so much evil in the world? Why do the wicked seem to be winning? Why is there so much poverty in Jamaica? The picture that we see as we end 2009 and enter 2010 is a picture of a dying Jamaica, a dying community, dying families, dying young men, hopeless mothers, aimless fathers, depressed wives, frustrated husbands, tired workers. It is a picture that breaks the heart of God, a picture that breaks my heart.

Here we stand with an urgent cry, “How long O LORD must I call for help, but you do not listen? Or cry out to you , violence! But you do not save? Our LORD, how long must I beg for your help before you listen? How long before you save us from all this violence? Why do you make me watch such terrible injustice? Why do you allow violence, lawlessness, crime, and cruelty to spread everywhere? Laws cannot be enforced; justice is always the loser; criminals crowd out honest people and twist the laws around [Hab. 1:3-4].

The prophet Habakkuk, saw danger ahead, he saw calamity approaching so he turned to God for help. Here in our land, we face all manner of anxieties. My job tonight is to ask us to take a deep look into the way we live our lives, to ask ourselves if we are ready for the new year, if we are sure that our foundation is solid enough to stand. This is a time when we must be sure that the words on Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand become more than the refrain of a song that we know, but the very life blood of our existence.

Just as the vision of disaster was sure to unfold on the nation of Judah, it is clear that life as we know it in Jamaica is about to take a turn for the worse. I wish it was possible for me to tell you that it is getting easier, I wish it was the case where I could tell us life will be rosy. We must face the reality. The question is, how do we face the reality. The prophet’s attitude to the approaching situation of disaster has been the source of encouragement for thousands of God’s people over the years and this is what I offer to us in these closing moments of 2009.

Hab 3:17 Fig trees may no longer bloom, or vineyards produce grapes; olive trees may be fruitless, and harvest time a failure; sheep pens may be empty, and cattle stalls vacant-- Hab 3:18 but I will still celebrate because the LORD God saves me. Hab 3:19 The LORD gives me strength. He makes my feet as sure as those of a deer, and he helps me stand on the mountains.

This new year is going to be a year when the strength of our faith is going to be tested. It is going to be a year when those who never thought of stealing before may plan to steal, a year when some Christians are going to start buying the lotto, and those who are already buying it will spend more on it. It is going to be a time when many will turn to the bottle or the rizzla to ease the pressure, and some necks may even end up in a rope. But there is hope. Psa 20:7 Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the LORD our God.

The fig tree and the cattle represented the source of food. If there is no food what will you do? The grape vine represented gladness and merriment. When the time comes where there is nothing to smile about, what will you do? The olive tree represented healing and the presence of God. When you are sick, and pain is running through your body, will you take the advice that Job’s wife gave him and curse God and die? When it seems like even God has turned his back on you, on your family, will you still seek him? The sheep represented the religious life and hope of the people. When even the church fails you, when it seems as if the guilt and the shame of your sins and your actions just will not go away what will you do?

The prophet offers us a surprising answer. Even though all these possibilities reach us, he says, “I will still celebrate because the LORD God saves me. The LORD gives me strength. He makes my feet as sure as those of a deer, and he helps me stand on the mountains.” It is clear that when all else is lost, when all else fails there is something which we must never lose, there is something which is more important than food and comfort. Those who have salvation have an anchor that keeps the soul. Even when there is nothing, but there is salvation then we can celebrate. With salvation there is strength. This very night, God offers us strength, He offers us hope, He offers us safety, He offers us victory, sure footed confidence through difficult times. The salvation of the LORD sets us not in the valley of despair but on the mountain top. The buses are about to roll into 2010. Make sure that the bus you are on is insured. If you are driving your own bus into 2010 will it arrive in one piece? If your bus comes to the end of the road will you see God’s face? Will you trust Him?

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