How many new years have you “notched into your belt”? If you are relatively young, there are just a few. Or maybe you’re looking at most of your life through the rear-view mirror. January isn’t much different than December . . . maybe fewer parties and fewer tax deductions. Just a number to change on your checks. Yet it’s enough of a speed bump on life’s road so that we’re inclined to stop momentarily and do a gut check. As children of God, we should also do a spiritual gut check.

You’ll never walk alone

Last year a woman lost a son and a daughter when they were struck by a drunk driver. Within the next nine months, her husband died of cancer and both parents were also taken from this life. In a local paper she was quoted as saying, “I know they’re in heaven, but I’m so lonely.” One can hardly blame her. Loneliness, however, is a common plight. If you’ll be celebrating an anniversary alone this year, you can relate.

The songwriter’s words are music to lonely ears. They are words that “shine through the gloom and point [us] to the skies” (Christian Worship 588:7). “I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand.” The Bible is a “Who’s Who” list of people who were sustained by the promises of a loving God, who would never abandon them. When God’s famous prophet Elijah was alone and tired of it all, the ever-present Lord revealed himself in a whisper. The whisper of God’s Word reminds us again and again that others might leave us, but God never will.

You’ll never walk without a map

“I never saw that coming.” I heard that said more than once last year. “In this world you will have trouble,” Jesus once said (John 16:33). Life often is like navigating the rough water of trouble. There are finances and friendships, health care and day care, job security and personal insecurity, headaches and heartaches. Pick a day. “Each day has enough trouble of its own” (Matthew 6:34).