Just think what we didn’t know one year ago. We didn’t expect we’d be plunged into a global pandemic with all of the health and social and emotional and economic and employment ramifications it would bring. We didn’t expect a year of “masks and distancing.” What’s more, market volatility, racial tensions, and political turmoil kept grabbing our attention in startling ways.
Suffice it to say: there was a lot we didn’t know a year ago today. But we knew enough. And that’s what matters—for both looking back and looking ahead. We know enough heading into 2021.
Here’s what all who trust in Jesus know about the future: “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.” We know that faith in Christ leads to eternal life and not perishing (John 3:16).
We know Jesus came to seek and save the lost (Luke 19:10). We know that God sent his Son into this world to redeem us and so that we could be adopted as his children (Galatians 4:4-5).
We know Christ is with us, now and always, to the very end of the age (Matthew 28:20). We know the Lord will never leave us or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5). We know he’s at work in all things for the good of his people—i.e., those who love him (Romans 8:28).
We know Jesus has gone away to prepare a place for us, and that he’ll come back and gather us up into his perfect presence (John 14:1-3). And so we will always be with him (1 Thessalonians 4:17).
We know Jesus’ words of warning and comfort for today: “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33). What’s more, we know that “to live is Christ and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21).
So as you step into 2021, “Be still and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10). We don’t know everything, but we know enough.
