Chapter Chat: Face the uncertainties that 2026 brings with God by your side
A new year creates reflections and thoughts which embrace past, present and future.
From the moment in life in which we find ourselves, the past is a certain fact because we have lived through it.
The future, with all its expectations, will, no doubt, present us with issues and challenges we know nothing of yet.
The litany of road traffic accident deaths, the violent taking of life, and suicides, reported as last year came to its end and 2026 began, is testimony to the uncertainty which suddenly impacts the lives of too many families!
Thus, none of us can be certain what this year will bring, yet one thing is sure – God knows.
Therefore, if we are to resolve anything for the year ahead, surely it ought to be that we need to walk with God, the One who knows.
In the opening verses of John's Gospel, the Apostle describes the eternal existence of Christ that, in terms of everything, He has always been.
He further states that, “In Him was life, and the life was the light of men”.
The Son of God, coming as a baby to Bethlehem, the Lord of all life appearing in human form.
He brings life because He is life; without Him, life is nothing. What we are and what we have done is because God has decreed and purposed it for us.
Our lives are in the hands of God, but we do not know what lies ahead!
James 4v14 reminds us that whilst we might know today, “whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow”!
But not only is all life in Him, He is the light of men. The light of Christ shines brightly through His wonderful Gospel, His Word is a light onto the pathway of life which stretches before us.
Supremely, He is the One who brings light into every form of darkness, into the soul of every person who trusts in Him. And if we are to have hope in 2026, we need to follow the light of life, which is Christ Himself.
This light is God, about whom we are reminded in 1st John 4 which declares that “God is love”.
All life, all light and all true love are in Jesus Christ alone; our only hope for the journey, joys and challenges of this year, and forever, are found only in Him.
As the Psalmist reminds us in 100v5, “the LORD is good; His mercy is everlasting, And His truth endures to all generations”.
In this our generation, may you be encouraged to walk in the life, light and love of Christ, to step out in faith with Him; the only hope for the sinner in this world.