Trust in Our Good God

The New Year brings hope that good things will happen during the year. But not everyone shares that hope. People with chronic pain or a long-term illness may wonder if their situation will get worse. There may be problems with family members, the lack of a job, or our marriage that see no prospect for improvement or change. People may worry about changes in the cultural and religious landscapes that could make life as a Christian more difficult.
Over the centuries, believers have faced such fundamental changes in their personal lives as well as in society. Many have grown anxious for the future of their nation, of their lives, and of the faith. Imagine how troubled Christians in Jerusalem were under the persecutions of Saul. Stephen was martyred along with other believers. Family and friends fled for safety to Samaria and other countries. Later on, they could see that God was using this evil so that many more people could hear the Gospel.
Many other Christians have dealt with a society that turned away from listening to God’s Word. Think of those Christians who suffered under communist rule in China and in the former Soviet Union, or whose faith was compromised by living under the Nazis. With God’s grace, they suffered and died—but they continued to trust in Jesus until God took them to heaven or ended the persecution.
Trust is not a yet to be fulfilled wish for good times. Trust is not a vague hope that life will improve. Trust is faith in the promises of God given in His Word. God promises to be with us (Matthew 28:20), promises to answer our prayers (Psalm 50:15, John 15:7), promises to give us eternal life (John 6:40), and promises to guide us through all the trials and afflictions of life.
Trust is built on three basic facts of the Christian faith. First, God is our Creator and continues to preserve what He made. While Adam’s sin brought evil, affliction, and death into our world, God still governs His creation. For “He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust” (Matthew 5:45). Seeing a rainbow in the sky reminds us of God’s promise that a flood will never again destroy the world. Though God has seen many examples of wickedness that deserved His wrath, He has kept His promise to bless our lives with good things.
Second, God is our Redeemer, who has conquered our real enemies. Before we even worried about sin and death, God sent His Son to become man and then live under God’s Law to keep it perfectly and to suffer the death we deserve. Though we were bound under the Law, Jesus’ life and death set us free from its bondage. The Bible says, “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how will He not also freely with Him give us all things?” (Romans 8:32). And if God has given us faith in Jesus, He also gives us forgiveness of sins and promises us eternal life in heaven.
Third, God is our Comforter, who helps us live in this world as His children. The Bible says that “God is able to help us to will and to do of His good pleasure” (Philippians 2:13). As our Comforter, the Holy Spirit blesses us with understanding of our life with God. For God does not promise a better life on earth, but an eternal life in heaven. The Bible states, “We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22).
Because God has called us by the Gospel, enlightened us with His gifts, justified us by faith in Jesus, and sanctified us through His Sacraments, we can trust Him to bless us in the New Year. St. Paul declares, “We know that all things work together for those who love God” (Romans 8:28, emphasis added). With such knowledge and trust, we can truly have a real hope for a good New Year.
The editor