2018 is officially here. Many have plans for 2018. Some of those may include getting married, special vacations, job changes, moving, and a host of other things. There are the “normal” things as well which would include the day to day, week to week and month to month activities involving work, home, church and community. While many people like change, we want it on our terms. We want it to be our choice to change jobs or move. Health, accidents, family situations, forces of nature and other things can all bring unexpected and unwanted changes. Those are harder to deal with and accept.

We can be sure that 2018 will have good things and challenges. It can be a blessing that we don’t know what all the future holds because of worrying way in advance of the situations that don’t always amount to much. Many times, I have heard people say they could never go through certain things. What they are not considering is, the person going through something doesn’t have a choice. How they handle it is their choice. We can become negative or face things more positively. We can become bitter or let it make us stronger and sensitive to the needs of others. It is our choice. It is also our choice to face it alone or let others help us. We can’t control all that happens, but we can control how we respond.

None of us knows what 2018 will hold. We have ideas of what to expect in some areas, but those unexpected things can turn everything in a different direction, both good and bad. That out of control feeling can be difficult to deal with. Stress builds as we try to deal with the entire situation(s) at one time instead of taking it a day at a time. Sometimes a day is too much, and we need to take things at a moment by moment. Yet, in all of it, we can rest assured that nothing happens without God being aware of it. He is able and willing to help in every change, challenge and situation. I pray your 2018 is one you can look back on and see the blessings in all you will go through.