Do you remember what we said last year? We all said, “It’s going to be better next year.” We all said, “Next year we
can go back to normal.” We all said it, admit it! Was it better? Did we go back to normal? Nope. Not in any meaningful sense, anyway.

As the new year dawns, I have begun to wonder, do we really want to go back to normal? One of the good things Covid did was expose several bad things that had become normal. Teaching our children destructive ideologies and ungodly morals in public schools had become normal. Anti-Christian sentiments had become normal and accepted. The corruption and duplicity of the government and its once-trusted institutions had become business as usual.

Yet, so many of us would sign on the dotted line just to get back to this kind of normal. With that thought in mind, I believe as Christians, normalcy is not what we should be striving for. We should pursue something better. Something higher; the will of God.

The Psalmist wrote, “Teach me to do Your will. For You are my God. Let Your good Spirit lead me on level ground.” Psalm 143:10 We’ve tried to make God’s will too hard; too mysterious, when really, God’s will is pretty simple. God’s will is that you obey the 10 Commandments, that you come to know Him as your Savior, draw close to Him, and love and serve Him with your whole heart. Pursuing God’s will means obeying Him at all costs, serving Him and our fellow human beings. God’s will, especially in the last 2 years, has become the opposite of normal.

As we turn our calendar pages over to 2022, may we reject the deteriorating state of normalcy and all the complacency it has wrought. Let us pursue God’s will instead. If we do, I know 2022 will be better, even if nothing changes. Happy New Year, may you pursue God’s will, and may He bless you as you do.

Pastor Jaci