God always makes a way for those who trust in Him

We are about to begin a new year. For many people a new year brings a sense of hope. There can be a feeling that this new year will be better than the last. There’s a clean slate before us. People make resolutions ranging from dieting and exercise to praying and personal change all aimed at making 2022 better than 2021.
Yet for many other people a new year is a time of anxiety. Challenges can loom before us. Worries can dominate our minds because of an illness, a difficult relationship, or financial struggles.
For those who begin the new year with deep apprehensions, I offer this gem of wisdom from a sermon my pastor gave years ago when I was a seminarian. I will never forget it. In summary, he asked the congregation at Mass to think about the thing each of them was most worried about a week ago. He helped them to jolt their memory and to remember what it was. Then he asked them to remember what they were most worried about a month ago, then a year ago, then five years ago, then 10 years, then 20 years, each time helping them to remember what it was that was so occupying their thoughts at that time.
He told them that, no matter what the worry was, or how the matter finally worked out, they got through it, and God was with them every step of the way.
The fear of the moment can seem so great that we wonder how we will ever cope. The burden can seem so heavy that we wonder how we will find the strength. The confusion can seem so overpowering that we cannot imagine we will have find the clarity to move forward. The loss can seem so deep that we feel we simply can’t go on. The fear can seem so real that we cannot imagine where we will find the courage.
It is for us to remember that God will be there in everything and with God we can handle anything and with God we have nothing to fear.
I offer a simple suggestion which I have used for many years now and which brings me great comfort and trust in God; At the end of each year I write down the things which I am most anxious about as the new year starts. Then I put the list away. Twelve months later I take out that list and read it again. It is amazing how God got me through each of my worries. Some situations have worked out, perhaps not as I had planned, but they worked out anyhow. Some situations are still around but I know that I have handled them for the past 12 months and I am confident that, with God’s strength, I can continue to handle them. Then I write a new list of the things that worry me today and put that list away to read again in 12 months. Each year those lists help me to grow in a confidence that God always makes a way for those who trust in Him.
So, Happy New Year to each of you. Whatever 2022 holds for us and our loved ones, God is with us. Trust Him and may God bless each of you abundantly.