Recognizing Renewal

The cover of this week's Time Magazine is a bold red X through the year "2020," followed by the subtitle "The Worst Year Ever." The cover illustration cues to an essay titled "Our Awful Year: 2020 Tested Us Beyond Measure. Where Do We Go From Here?" Inside the essay, you will find pull-out quotes like, "This is the story of a year you'll never want to revisit," and, "Our most debilitating threat this year was a sense of helplessness."

What do you think? Have you felt the despair of 2020? Are you feeling it still? Have you witnessed it in the people around you? Rather than rolling our eyes at the headlines that trumpet the angst of a trying year, how can we step into the fray with a posture of humility, bringing Jesus' peace and repose to all who are struggling?

Listen to Paul's words in Chapter 12 of his Letter to the Romans: Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God -- this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is -- his good, pleasing, and perfect will.

Too often we focus our energy on moments of rejection -- whether we are feeling rejected by the world or choosing to reject what is before us -- rather than recognizing the renewal that God intends in those difficult moments. What would it mean for you to seek renewal in 2020 and 2021, asking that God transform your mind so it better aligns with His? Rather than reacting with disappointment or irritation to the shuffling of the world around you, how will you seek places of wonder, of simple beauty, of new growth?

We are daily blessed by God's gifts of grace and mercy. As we anticipate a Christmas celebration next week and continue to navigate the trials of a surprising year, what will others see in our demeanor and our actions that stands against this cultural claim of "The Worst Year Ever"? What if "the worst year" turns out to be transformational in ways that we won't be able to count for decades to come? Let your minds be renewed and your joy stand firm, my friends, as we anticipate Christ's birth together.

May the peace of Christ reign in your home this week,

Jennie