By Nancy Miles
It’s a new day.
It was 6:50 am. Cradling my favorite mug, I settled into my bedroom chair. The coffee was hot and tasted especially good this morning. Just what I needed, I thought. Parting the curtain, I looked out across the road. The filtered daylight stretching across the field seemed to promise that the rain was over for now. The hay was sparkling and green, and there was freshness to the air. Our neighbor jogged by, then a school bus passed. Life outside my window seemed pretty normal. I breathed deep and thanked God for restful sleep and a new day.
I am truly thankful for every new day. But there is a heaviness to these days. As my brain began to wake up, the familiar troubling thoughts also stirred, like the caffeine was poking a sleeping giant in my head. Swirling, spiralling, worrying thoughts. There is so much going on in the world! Wars, divisions, deception, violence. These days are hard; we wonder what shoe is going to drop next, and when. I find myself having to keep a constant vigil over my head and heart, guarding against overwhelm and fear and a whole litany of emotions…and by the end of the day my brain is so tired. Do you feel it too?
I reflected back over the past days, months, and years – and back to 2020. The year when something shifted and the world got a lot smaller. We called it a shaking. I remember that we were looking forward to 2021, when the masks would come off and people would be well, businesses and schools and churches would reopen their doors and things would get back to “normal”.
Are we there yet? Where did normal go?
I would like to share with you something I wrote back in December 2020. Before Chat GPT, drone warfare, the Australia, California and Hawaii wildfires and so many earthquakes. Before the latest war in Israel and Ukraine. Before our personal family tragedy. There is one thing that has never changed, and never will. It is where I find stability in the shaking, and hope in the chaos of this beautiful and broken world.
This encouraged me that morning. And I hope that it will encourage you too.
December 2020
My personal reflections on a puzzling year and a mysterious future.
In the closing days of 2020 I am among the ranks of those who are becoming thoughtful and reflective. Contemplating the past year, and thoughtfully looking ahead, here are a few of the thoughts bouncing around in my head today.
So many things that occurred in the past year were out of our control. The fact is, we can’t control much of what happens in our private and global worlds each day. But we can control our response to the circumstances we are in. This is where I want to focus in the days to come.
I believe there is a purpose for everything.
So why did we all go through the shaking of 2020?
For me, as a believer in Christ, I have a Standard of Truth to follow, and a Leader I can trust. Yet sometimes I too am distracted by the noise of the world. The world’s vendors call for our attention. They call out to us loudly in voices that are difficult to ignore.
They remind me of the peddlers on the streets of modern Bethlehem when we visited a handful of years ago. As we walked along with our tour group en route to the manger site, they were not just calling to us to come and look at their wares, but in some cases they were actually stepping in front of us. One even grabbed my husband’s arm as we attempted to pass by. They were not easy to ignore. And the irony was that we were on our way to visit the traditional birthplace of the One Who came to bring peace on earth and peace to our souls. We had to wade through the noise and distraction to get there.
WHO ARE YOU LISTENING TO?
Sometimes the world-peddlers make me angry. Sometimes anxious. Sometimes ashamed. But it’s really not all about me, is it?
Or is there something I can do? What can I change within me? How can I find peace, joy, hope in this mess we’re in?
Last January ‘VISION‘ was the word of the year. Hindsight is 2020 after all. My prayer over these last months has been that deception would be exposed and truth revealed. That prayer is being answered in surprising ways. I know within me there has been a peeling away of pretense, self-satisfaction, and excuses. Something was revealed in me that is not pretty. And it’s not the vision I expected to characterize this year.
WHO AM I LISTENING TO?
What if it’s all about repentance? Self-examination? Confession?
It’s easier to point a finger and blame someone else. To label and criticize and condemn. To put on my self-righteous robes, tilt my nose upward and play the Pharisee’s role (the one in Luke chapter 18, who had a “THANK GOD I’M NOT LIKE HIM” mentality). To laugh and ridicule. To believe the worst about the other side. To quickly and thoroughly believe anything that supports my opinions, no matter the source. To dismiss anyone that does not agree.
Ashamed, I realize I have experienced all this and more over this past year at times. And if I’m to be honest, this garbage was stinking below the surface in my heart long before January 1, 2020.
But there is good news! Change is in the air. God is doing a new work. I can be part of that change!
See, I am doing a new thing. Now it springs up. Do you not perceive it?
Isaiah 43:19
WHO ARE YOU LISTENING TO?
I want to be perfectly clear. Christ promises peace to His Children. To those who believe and trust in Him. His arms are wide open, inviting you and whosoever will to come to Him. But you must accept His invitation and be adopted into His family to enjoy His Peace. If you want to know more about this, please click this link. It’s simple yet eternally important! https://just2miles.com/index.php/2020/12/23/gods-simple-plan-of-salvation/
Soooo, here we are at the close of one year, and the promise of another. There have been good lessons learned. There are treasures safely stored, seeds of promise beginning to sprout, the break of dawn on the horizon. But there are still many questions. I would be lying if I did not admit that I have had my moments of anxiety, sadness, even fear. But I have a plan. I’m praying, seeking, confessing, purging my mind of the garbage of 2020, while treasuring the gold. I’m trying hard to redirect my attention away from the world’s street peddlers and my own flighty emotions. Wading through the distractions. Listening to Truth. TRUE TRUTH. Finding peace, joy and forever hope. BEING THE CHANGE.
Meanwhile, I am seeking my word for 2021…
Postscript, September 2025
My word for 2021 and every year since has been Emmanuel. God-with-us. An important reminder that God has walked with me step by step, every day. In sunshine and in storm. Even on the really painful days. He has held me and steadied me. So, no matter what I hear in the news or see on social media — no matter the loud opinions and deep divisions, in the shaking and in the darkness, I can stand firm because this I know. God is here with me, and He is my Rock. He is the same yesterday, today and forever.
So, as I take a sip of my morning coffee and prepare to step into this new day, I remember an important lesson learned in 2020. Jesus first. Eyes on Him. And I make a choice to tune out the noise and reach for my Bible. I am ready to listen to God. Because He’s got this! I can trust what He says in His Word. And He’s got me.
Emmanuel.
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