How did your new year start or unfold?

Did it give you the fresh start that you hoped for? Or did you have to deal with the same issues and concerns from the past year?

Did you have time to plan and implement your plans for the new year?

Were you able to start the things that you said you will do come January?

What if your new year did not unfold as you hoped it would?

What if instead of being welcomed into the new year with wonderful and rosy things, you get hit by one challenge after another?

That has been my experience at the start of the year 2022.

Our family got sick. My husband was the one most affected.

I was not able to do the things I planned and wanted to do because I had to take care of everyone in our household.

Actually, even before the year started, I had been busy helping manage my father’s health issues since May of 2021.

I thought that after he has discharged from the hospital in late November, things would be better.

I was wrong.

Just when my husband was about to recover, just when I thought I would have some time to rest from taking care of my entire household and helping out my family of origin, my father’s health condition deteriorated and he died.

It’s like I was standing in the sea and tides so huge were hitting me one after another.

What can we do when things don’t unfold like we planned and expected?

1. SUBMIT & ACCEPT.

Based on my experience recently, the first and most important thing to do is to submit and accept. We need to submit to God’s Perfect Will or to what He allowed to happen. We need to accept whatever happened even when it’s not what we preferred or even when it’s difficult.

I prayed to God for the healing of my father. God answered my prayer in the most perfect way. God freed him from all illnesses and pain. God brought my father home.

“Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.” Proverbs 19:21

Non-acceptance only prolongs our agony and increases our sorrow.

The sooner we accept and grieve over what could have been or what we hoped for, the sooner we can also heal and move forward after the bump we experienced.

“Teach me to trust in you with all of my heart, to lean not on my own understanding.” Proverbs 3:5

2. ADJUST

Ask God to direct your steps. When things don’t happen as planned, we need to make adjustments.

Did you or your family members get sick at the start of the year also?

Did you have to postpone some lessons or events?

Did you have to delay some projects or work that you have scheduled?

Adjust, if you must.

Schedules are not cast in stone.

If you need time to rest, rest.

If you need time to recover, give your body time to recover.

If you need time to grieve, grieve. Let the tears flow and bring healing to you.

If you need more time to plan or change your initial plans, to strategize or to change your strategy, give yourself that much-needed time.

Don’t rush into the new year. We have 12 months to implement our plans and to work on our goals and dreams for this new year.

It’s not a sprint. It’s more of a marathon.

3. REFLECT, LOOK FOR THE GOOD & DISCOVER THE PURPOSE.

Reflect on what could be the possible good that can come out of the unexpected.

If we don’t make time to be still and quiet, to introspect and reflect, we will not be able to discover the purpose and meaning behind the events in our lives, good or bad. It will be harder to notice the good brought about by the seemingly bad developments in our lives if we continue to live our fast-paced lives.

Crises force us to slow down. Crises remind us of our priorities.

I believe that God’s refusals are also His mercies and sometimes, He redirects our steps when His answer to our prayer is a no.

It’s extra challenging when we get one no after another. But let us go back to Proverbs 3:5. God knows better. He knows what is best for each one of us and for all of us. It is better to trust in Him and in His grand design.

There are silver linings even amidst dark clouds.

There are beautiful stars that twinkle even in the darkest of nights.

There can be joy even in suffering, illness, or death when we discover the purpose behind them.

I can say these words with conviction because I experienced their truth.

I saw them happen in my own life in the past years and just this January.

My father suffered because of his longtime sickness. Yet, he also received many miracles, favors, and blessings from God both in life and in death.

4. DRAW STRENGTH, COURAGE & HOPE FROM GOD.

On our own, we wouldn’t have the strength, courage, and hope that we need to face the challenges and storms of life. Some of the storms that we encounter seem too strong or too violent for us. Some mountains, too big. The good news, however, is that our God who is with us always, who fights our battles, and who loves us very much is greater, more powerful and bigger than any storm or mountain we’ll ever face.

“What is impossible for man is possible for God.” Luke 18:27

Every time I am struggling to have courage and hope, I recall Jeremiah 29:11.

“For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a future full of hope.”

Every time I feel weak, I remind myself of Philippians 4:13 which says:

“I can do all thing through Christ who is my strength.”

God is my strength, courage, hope, wisdom, and guide. He gives my life purpose, meaning, and direction.

So, even if my new year, my 2022, did not start as I hoped it would or as I planned it would, I can continue to step into 2022 and my future with all the graces that I need because I know in my heart that my God has gone ahead of me and won the victory for me. I only need to stand firm and keep the faith. I know in my heart that my God is with me every step of the way and that He will never forsake me.

Blessed be the Name of the Lord! I continue to entrust my life and the lives of the people I love to Him. I know that He loves them more than I can love them. I continue to entrust my hopes, plans, goals, and dreams to God. May His holy Will be done.