The New Year 2026

As the New Year has come once again, many want to know what changes 2026 will bring. Prior to every New Year, there are many speculations and attempts to forecast what the coming year will unfold. However, most predictions are only man's guesswork and seldom contain faith or hope. In the midst of man's predictions, both positive and negative, we can be certain that the Lord God alone knows what the future holds and if we will walk close to Him, He will, by His Word, and by His Holy Spirit, prepare us for any future changes or challenges both great or small. Like it or not, change is an ever present part of this life and as hard as we try, we cannot stop change from happening because the future is always coming. As we examine our past, some years came and went with little noticeable change while others brought great change that set us on an entirely different course in life. Some changes we are able to choose while others are imposed upon us against our will by life's circumstances. When it comes to change, the only constant is that change is continually at work like the ticking of a clock that marks the passing of time day by day. Our life is in a constant flux of change even when we are not aware of it or don't desire it. As temporary citizens of this earth, we can learn to make the most of change as it happens. The Lord fully understands change and He will help, guide, strengthen, and teach us how to best work through the various changes we will encounter in this life. Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever and in Him we have an ever fixed mark that we can anchor our hope and faith to. If we will cling to Him, He will hold us steady through every change that happens. Each day the world changes and grows more complex and drifts further into uncertainty and insecurity. The daily news is an ever present reminder of all the bad things that happen around the world and if we become captivated with what is going wrong in the world, we can easily be overcome by anxiety and fear of the unknown. But if we give our attention to the God that made the worlds, we can rest secure in Him and live without dread or fear. We can rest assured in the fact that Jesus has already overcome the world and if we will trust Him fully, in faith, and live by His teachings, He will sustain us through whatever change the future may bring. "These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." [John 16:33 KJV] The words "be of good cheer" also holds the meaning "to be of good comfort," or "to be of good courage." Because Jesus has overcome the world, we can take courage and we can take comfort in what He has already done and because of this we can face all the changes 2026 may bring fear and worry free. The apostle John adds more understanding to how Jesus' victory over the world affects us personally when he said, "whatsoever is born of God overcomes the world." Those that make Jesus Lord of their lives have access to world overcoming faith because they fully trust and rely on Jesus as the Son of God! "For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?" [1 John 5:4-5 KJV] During these uncertain and ever changing times, one can find a place of refuge and safety in the Lord Jesus Christ. He is our Rock, our Fortress, our Deliverer, our Strength, our Shield, our Salvation, and in Him can we trust. "The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower. I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies." [Psalms 18:2-3 KJV] "The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song will I praise him." [Psalms 28:7 KJV] The things of this world are temporary and ever changing, but the Lord is eternal and never changes and God's Word is as eternal and unchanging as He. If we walk close to the Lord and look to His Word for guidance and fortitude, He will faithfully help us maneuver through all the changes we may encounter in 2026. "While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal." [2 Corinthians 4:18 KJV] Every year brings change and we can be assured that 2026 will be no different. If we place our trust in the Lord Almighty and live by His unchanging Word, it really does not matter what changes 2026 may bring, because "...we are more than conquerors through him that loved us." "Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." [Romans 8:37-39 KJV] Like it or not, 2026 will bring change but the good news is Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever!