Goodbye 2020

 

It is almost time to say goodbye to the year 2020. This has been a year for the books, hasn’t it? When 2019 was winding down you might have had some big plans for the new year. As you watched the ball drop and sang  Auld Lang Syne, you might have been excited about a clean slate and a new decade. Perhaps you made some resolutions about what you were going to do better. “2020 is going to be my year,” you might have said. 

 

And maybe it was. But I’d be willing to bet this wasn’t the year you hoped it would be. When I was a kid I decided to run for President in 2020 because I would turn 35 this year. Obviously I didn’t. Think about all that we endured this year: we are still in a global pandemic; we were quarantined; our record-high economy came to a screeching halt; people have worked from home; school abruptly ended, and many are doing virtual school; churches closed or went online or into parking lots; businesses closed for good; we have gone through extended periods without being able to visit loved ones, and we have lost too many; we have endured record setting highs, lows, and wetness; we had an earthquake and murder hornets; we had civil unrest all summer, preceded by acts of hatred and violence. And then there was the election. 

 

Did I leave anything out?

 

We use the expression that we are having “one of those days.” 2020 has been one of those years. As we prepare to close the book on this year and ring in 2021, many are jokingly saying they hope it is a better year than 2020 (“Hey, it can’t be any worse!”). And in all seriousness, I hope that 2021 is a great year for everyone reading this. 

 

This year has been a reminder that things do not always go according to plan. I am not suggesting that we should not have plans; I love the old adage that says, “to fail to plan is to plan to fail.” Having a plan is a good thing, but sometimes life happens and our plans fall through. As Robert Burns famously wrote, “The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry.” We should make plans, but we do so understanding they may just go awry. It might be God that is spoiling our plans. 

 

Paul planned to go to Asia to preach the gospel—a noble plan indeed. But then, in an event commonly referred to as the Macedonian Call, Luke wrote, “And a vision appeared to Paul in the night. A man of Macedonia stood and pleaded with him, saying, ‘Come over to Macedonia and help us (Acts 16:9).’” Paul’s plan went awry, but it was God shutting the door. Because God spoiled Paul’s plan, he went instead to places like Corinth and Philippi, and we have some great books of the Bible because of it. 

 

If 2020 hasn’t been you’re year, it may be tempting to try to erase it from your memory and just chalk it up tp being one of those years. Or, like Paul going to Macedonia, we can try to look for something good that came from it. Did you spend more time with your kids than normal? Did you reevaluate your priorities? Did you learn to make do with a little less? Did you watch more church services online? Did you cry out to God like you didn’t do when your job was safe and the economy was booming? Did you get to share the message of hope through Jesus with someone who was desperate? 

 

Hindsight is always 20/20, and soon 2020 will be hindsight. It is easy to join the chorus of complainers, but lets always look for blessings instead. As long as Jesus is on the throne, there is plenty of bright side to see.