To look back and remember requires faith. It requires believing that God sovereignly determined everything you experienced this year. Such exercise of faith is easier to say than to do. In fact, knowing that God was behind everything that happened this last year is the kind of answer that raises other questions. For we don’t just want to know that God was behind it all; we want to know the purpose behind what He did. We want to know the reasons for the tragedies and heartaches. We want to know the meaning underneath the joys and triumphs. In other words, we want to know the why behind the what.

God has placed us in a world that’s got a rhythm to it. Each day has a sunrise and sunset. Each week has six days of work and a day of rest. Even the four seasons rise and fall with a predictable pattern.

This same rhythmic quality comes into play at the end of one calendar year and the beginning of another. The end of a year provides a natural opportunity to look back and remember the ups and downs of the year and all the grace received. The beginning of another provides us the opportunity to look forward to what God will do in you and through you for His glory.

To look back and remember requires faith. It requires believing that God sovereignly determined everything you experienced this year. Such exercise of faith is easier to say than to do.

In fact, knowing that God was behind everything that happened this last year is the kind of answer that raises other questions. For we don’t just want to know that God was behind it all; we want to know the purpose behind what He did. We want to know the reasons for the tragedies and heartaches. We want to know the meaningunderneath the joys and triumphs. In other words, we want to know the why behind the what.

Though we know something of the reasons behind what happens in our lives, we will never have the full picture in this life. John Piper was right when he said, “God is always doing 10,000 things in our life, and you may be aware of three of them.” In saying that, Piper is acknowledging that God is infinite and we are finite; that His ways are higher than our ways, and His thoughts are past finding out (Psalm 145:3; Isaiah 55:8-9). Because God is God and we are not, the happenings of our life will always at some level remain mysterious.

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