Ruth 1:1-5

Ruth 1:1-5
English Standard Version (ESV)

  Not all new beginnings are welcome.
  When we think of the new year, we think of celebrations and lights and joy -- there is hope in the new year!  But sometimes, people look at the new year with despair.  Perhaps they've barely endured the previous year, and they don't think they have the strength for another.  Or maybe they've just received some devastating news and the horizon seems too bleak.  Maybe the past few years have worn them down and hope seems like a distant concept.  Whatever the reason, change isn't always good.
  When we read Scripture, we encounter real life.  There is drama and heartbreak and joy and sorrow.  God doesn't sugarcoat the often harsh realities of life.  What God does, however, is consistently point forwards to the hope we have in Christ.  As Christians, we are able to point to the hope in Christ that exists beyond the grave.  Even when death surrounds us, hope can still triumph.
  So as you think of the year ahead, it's ok to have some despair and fear creep in.  But those emotions don't have to win the day -- God is still at work, and the long arc of God's justice and mercy will not be defeated by temporary pain and death.  God wins, my friends.  May we rejoice at the knowledge of God's victory, even as we work through the day-to-day realities of life.