How will you face 2025

One week ago today, we welcomed 2025. Whether you toasted the New Year with a lively party or ignored the hype and went to bed, New Year’s Day is a transitional day. We change our calendars and often promise to change our lives. Many of us take some time to reminisce about the past year and contemplate the future. How will you face 2025?

Optimistic? Or apprehensive? 

Are you guardedly optimistic? Or are you dreading opening the door to the ugliness the coming days will bring? I saw a cartoon where a small group of people are standing in front of a door labeled 2025. Instead of walking through with confidence or excitement, they are using a long stick to carefully nudge the door open and peer cautiously into the future.

Uncertain times

We have been bombarded with change over the last few years. The Global Pandemic ushered in an era of fear and distrust unlike anything we have ever experienced. Civil unrest and political upheavals have threatened the stability of our nation and our world. Natural disasters have destroyed our infrastructure and left us shaken to realize how powerless we are in the face of the unrelenting power of the elements.

How will you face 2025?

During Advent this year, I pondered the world that Jesus chose to enter. In. a lot of ways it was like ours. There was political upheaval. The once mighty nation of Israel was subject to Roman rule. Droughts and floods often disrupted the harvest and many of the poor starved without a social safety net. And worst of all, no one heard from God. 

Where was God? 

For 400 years, they had lived without a word from God. Their king was not a descendant of David, but was the son of convert to Judaism. And their religious leaders were divided into two factions, the Sadducees and the Pharisees, who agreed about as often as the Democrats and Republicans of our day.

When Gabriel appeared to Zacharias in the Holy Place, no wonder the Messenger’s first words were “Fear not.” Of course Zach was afraid. God hadn’t spoken in 400 years. He wasn’t expecting that to change.

So, the story of the Incarnation is ushered in with the words “Fear not.”

Four times in the Christmas narratives, God, through His messengers, tells His people to not fear.

Zacharias, don’t fear since your prayers have been answered.

Mary, don’t be afraid. You’re pregnant, but  it’s a good thing.

Joseph, don’t fear for your reputation. Marry her because this child is a miracle, not a mistake.

Shepherds, God has come near. The days of raising innocent lambs for slaughter are coming to an end.

Afraid to face 2025?

Are you afraid to face 2025? You’re not alone. But if you are a believer, God’s word to you is the same as it was to them. Fear not

God did not tell them not to fear because there was nothing to fear. They lived in dangerous times. King Herod was a mad man who would stop at nothing to protect his throne.

Zacharias knew that if Herod found out his secret, his family could be slaughtered. And Mary knew that Joseph could have her killed or exiled if he chose.

But Joseph would have to be vigilant the rest of his life, keeping his wife and child away from those who would harm him.

And the shepherds who joyfully followed the angels’ directions to the newborn? How many of them would mourn the loss of sons when Herod’s maniacal rage led him to kill any boy under the age of two in Bethlehem? 

We serve the same God they did. 

God’s word to us today is the same. We are not to allow ourselves to be captured and held hostage by fear. The world is a scary place. We are not shielded from the consequences of our broken world. But we are promised that this world isn’t all there is.

Peace in the storm?

In 1735, John and Charles Wesley booked passage for the Georgia colony in America. The ship they chose also carried a group of Moravian missionaries also bound for the colonies to set up a missionary outpost. Though John Wesley was an ordained Anglican priest, he often struggled with assurance of his salvation.

The Atlantic Passage was often stormy and unpredictable. During one particularly violent gale, Wesley feared for his life. But he noticed the Moravian group were unmoved by the storm. In fact, they barely looked up from the worship service but continued to sing hymns and pray.

After the storm passed, Wesley approached August Spangenberg,  the Moravian Bishop, and asked how they could remain so calm in such a horrific storm.

The bishop replied, “We are not afraid to die.” Wesley considered this then asked a different question. “But what of your women and children?”

His response? “Our women and children are not afraid to die either.”

And he didn’t speak with false bravado. The Moravians knew the dangers. Of the first 29 missionaries the Moravians sent on mission, 22 of them died. Others returned to Germany emaciated from long battles with tropical disease. But the rigors of the Great Commission did nothing to discourage the intrepid Moravians. There were always others to replace those who died. 

They faced the uncertainty of their life and their mission with the certainty of their faith in God. 

 So they focused their attention on God, not on the surrounding circumstances.  

So, what does any of this have to do with facing 2025? 

Yes, the dangers we face in 2025 are different from those faced by the missionaries in 1735. We can travel more safely and with fewer surprise storms than they could.  And we now have cures for many of the tropical diseases that killed so many of the first missionaries to the Americas. 

But 2025 will bring its own set of challenges, things that Spangenberg and Wesley didn’t even face in their nightmares.  New deadly pathogens may be lurking at the door. One of the many conflicts in the world could explode into a world war or a nuclear exchange. We could face another natural disaster that strains our resolve to rebuild and continue.

Here are some practical ways to banish fear from your life in 2025:

• Be sure of your relationship with God.  Paul reminds us that “the Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirits that we are children of God.” 
• What you read and listen to matters. Above all guard your heart because everything you do flows from it. 
• Keep a gratitude journal. Being grateful reminds us of the faithfulness of God in the past, and encourages us to trust Him in the future. Give thanks in all circumstances. 
• Surround yourself with courageous people. Don’t give up meeting together. 
• Keep the goal in mind, just like Jesus did. For the joy set before Him He endured the cross.

It is easy to allow ourselves to get caught up in the paranoia and fear of the world that surrounds us. Because there’s so much fear and distrust around us, unbelievers will notice when we choose to live our lives in faith instead of fear. For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love, and self discipline. 

That’s how I want to face 2025. 

The story of John Wesley and Bishop Spangenberg is from the video The Moravian Mission Machine.