Ring in the New Year

I’m a little hesitant to write about the new year 2022 (or 2020, too or 2020 Part 2). It feels a bit like being in “Lord of the Rings” when Frodo and Sam are halfway through their journey. We’re not sure what lies ahead of us or how much further we have to go, but we know there’s no turning back.

The post I wrote to welcome in the year 2020 was filled with optimism. I, along with everyone else, looked forward to a bright, pun-filled, year. The jokes were circulating well before the new year even started. It was going to be great!

How wrong we were! The rug was soon pulled out from under us and our world was thrown into chaos. We felt fearful and unsettled, cautiously stepping as we maneuvered through never before experienced challenges until we finally reached the end of that tragic, historical year. Everyone let out a sigh and hoped for a fresh start in 2021. Surely, things would start looking up.

Tut, tut, tut. Wrong again. 2021 has proven to be even worse. Our world seems to be falling part at the seams: we’ve lost loved ones, relationships have ended, friendships are strained, and businesses continue to fail. We aren’t sure what to believe on the news anymore and politics have divided us from family and friends. We have been headed to the top, alright, but we’ve been like poor Frodo and Sam trying to reach the top of Mount Doom. The year 2020 has hung around our neck like the Ring, weighing us down with its repercussions and attracting new problems, much like Gollum provided for Frodo and Sam. When things looked like they couldn’t get much worse, they did.

Will we have a happy ending? Will 2022 be the year we can finally step into a beautiful, sun-drenched, happy, full-filled life as portrayed in Frodo and Sam’s return home to the Shire? A return to predictability, routine, our former way of life with the past behind us like a bad dream that we are happy to awake from? Or better yet, an adventure story we can close the book on? Or will we continue to climb, fighting against the hold the Ring has over us?

No matter what the new year holds in store for us, we know that God is in complete control, right? But if God is in control, then why does everything seem out of control? Why is He allowing all this to happen?

Let’s consider Job.

Job was the richest man in the east during his lifetime. He owned much livestock, boasted a sizable household, and enjoyed a large family. He loved his children so much that he regularly offered sacrifices for them on the off chance they might have sinned. He was a good dad and an upright man who reverenced God and turned away from evil.

But one day, everything changed. In a matter of minutes, Job received news that he had lost all that he owned and all of his children. No sooner did one servant come to inform him that enemies had stolen his oxen and donkeys and killed their caretakers, when another came to tell him that his sheep and their caretakers were burned up with fire from Heaven. Before that servant could finish, another came running to inform Job that enemies had stolen all his camels and killed their caretakers; and the final informant told Job that his children had been killed when the wind caused the house they were in to collapse. I can’t even begin to imagine the tremendous devastation Job must have felt. His heartache and loss must have been overwhelming. You might think that Job would have accused God of causing this tragedy, or at least allowing it to happen. Yet, Job never questioned God; never blamed him. Even in his deep sorrow, he understood that God is the ultimate, supreme being. He is the creator of us and all that we have. Instead of blaming God, he acknowledged that God blesses us according to his will, not ours.

Romans 9:15-18

For he saith unto Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth. Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardened.

I had a friend who once told me about claiming God’s blessings. She shared that we could simply name a blessing and then claim it. Although we can claim God’s promises and enjoy his blessings, the Bible does not tell us we can name anything we want - a new car, cash, new house, etc - and God will grant it. He is not a genie.

Nor does being a faithful follower ensure blessings from God. God blesses whom he chooses to bless, regardless of what we have or haven’t done.

So what’s to keep us from throwing our hands up and saying, “To heck with it all! I’ll just live however I want if God doesn’t recognize and reward faithfulness in following Him. What will it matter anyway?”

It takes a deeper understanding of God’s love and our purpose to answer that question. God gave the ultimate gift, his son, who offered himself as a sacrifice for our sins so that we might live eternally with him in Heaven. We love Him because he first loved us. Our purpose is not to prosper on earth. Look at the 12 apostles. They were close followers of Christ, yet they did not become wealthy. Our purpose is the same as theirs, to love and worship God and to share the gospel with others so they, too, can enjoy eternal life with our Savior.

Let’s get back to Job.

Bad times were still to come. Job was struck with boils - open sores - from the top of his head to the bottoms of his feet. He was miserable! He was so completely covered that his friends did not recognize him when they came to sit and mourn with him. He distanced himself from his wife and household, sitting in a pile of ash with pieces of broken pottery he used for scratching. This was on top of the heartache he was still experiencing from the loss of his children, servants, and livelihood. The cherry on the top was when his wife, surely steeped in her own grief and unable to bear watching her husband suffer so greatly, encouraged Job to curse God and die. Poor Job! Surely his friends would encourage and support him during this time when he was at his lowest point.

Not so. His “friends” only accused him of committing some sin so great that he was now experiencing Gods’ judgment. Great friends, huh!

One of the greatest heartaches I’ve experienced was a miscarraige during my very first pregnancy. David and I had been so excited and had waited 2 months before sharing the news with our parents. We then went on to tell everyone we knew! Sadly, soon after, I miscarried. I still get emotional thinking about it. While still in grief, an acquaintance told David that the reason for the miscarriage was due to some sin he and/or I had committed. It was like salt on an open wound. Although I knew that was not true, it was nonetheless hurtful.

Job must have felt truly betrayed and alone.

However, through the losses, physical suffering, and droning accusations of his so-called friends, Job never blamed or cursed God. Not once.

So why DID all this happen to Job? Was it God testing Job? Many people would say so. But the scripture tells us differently. This was Satan’s handiwork. He wanted to tempt Job into turning away from God, to curse God and blame Him for everything that was happening. He wanted to ruin Job’s testimony because in doing so, he knew others would also turn away from God. Satan could not entice Job with wealth and power because he already had those. The only thing Satan could do was take everything away. Yet, Job remained faithful to God. Even though he did not understand why all this was happening, he knew that everything he had was temporal. He came into the world bringing nothing and would leave the world taking nothing. All that he had was given to him by God and could just as easily be taken by God if He so wished.

All that we have been through these past two years is not from God, but from Satan. He is the prince of the world and he is the one that brings chaos and tribulations.

1 Peter 5:8 - Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:

Ephesians 6:12 - For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

1 Corinthians 14: 33

For God is not the author of confusion (tumult, disorder), but of peace…

So, did Job get a happy ending?

We read in the Bible that God restored everything to Job, even doubling it! Job was flooded with friends and family who came to support him, offering encouragement and financial support; his livestock was restored to him; and he was blessed with more children. Although Job’s former children and servants could not be returned to him, he knew that he would return to them one day. Also, thanks to Job, his bad advice giving friends were spared a Godly reprimand! Finally, the scriptures say that Job lived to be a hundred and forty, “old and full of days”. (That’s even older than Bilboa Baggins!)

So, here we stand at the beginning of another new year. Let us pause to remember our purpose. Let us remember who is on our side. Just as Sam makes the journey with Frodo and sacrifices everything to help him complete his quest, God is with us, aiding us every step of the way. He lights our path, gives us the weapons we need, provides protection, and walks before us, leading the way. Satan may have power on the earth, but God has the ultimate power.

James 1: 12-18

Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive a crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him. Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. Do not err my beloved brethren. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.

So, what about that happy ending? Just as Frodo and Sam are able to destroy the ring and defeat Sauron, we know that Satan, too, will be defeated. The chaos and evils we are experiencing will come to an end and the happiest of days lie ahead of us.

However, as we witness Frodo and Sam’s return to their former life at home in the Shire, we see that they return as changed hobbits. They are unable to regain the innocence of living they once enjoyed.

Even if we are able to return to our “normal” life pre-2020, life will never be exactly as it was. We’ve been through too much. But maybe that’s for the best. Facing trials and tribulations cause us to learn new things and grow stronger.

Then, one day, just as Frodo and Bilboa leave the Shire to travel to Middle Earth to the Undying Lands, we too, will one day make a similar trip. There will only be happiness and light and beauty. Our quest here will be over. How sweet it will be to step into our Lord’s presence knowing we have persevered and kept the faith!

Happy New Year everyone!

God bless!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUaS1Y-jyMk