Every year, I spend the latter part of December, after the hustle and bustle of Christmas, asking God to give me a word for the coming year. Last year, it was grace. Unmerited, unearned favor of God. (I wrote about it in a previous post around this time last year!)
Throughout 2025, I often marvelled at the grace of God in my life and in the lives of those I walk with. Many answers to prayer were so clearly the grace of God that I was saying time and time again, “You just can’t make this stuff up!” I saw the hand of God in our finances, health, decisions, work, literally everything. Underserved, but oh so welcome!
2025 was also a year of conflict, turmoil, and sadness in the world concerning many of the things Jesus said in Matthew Chapter 24 and 2 Timothy 3, we would see in the last days. Men would be lovers of themselves, wars and rumours of wars, famine, and the earth erupting in earthquakes, droughts, and floods. Relationships strained as politics rocked our world, leaving not a soul untouched. If not for the grace of God, our hearts would be overwhelmed.
Now I hear the word joy for 2026. Joy doesn’t come from circumstances. It’s a deep feeling of peace that holds us steady whether the storms rage or the sun shines bright. It can’t be explained. It’s like the wind that blows where you cannot see, nor do you know where it comes from. It’s the thread that holds us together when circumstances attempt to unravel us. Joy is from the Spirit of God.
Therefore, I begin this year with joy, expecting happiness and good things, but knowing that whatever comes my way, I will have the strength to endure, for the joy of the Lord is my strength. I can trust that He will work all things out for good for those who love God. And truly, I love Him with all of my heart.
