I'm often fascinated by the worldwide gatherings as midnight strikes on New Year's Eve, watching countries from New York to Auckland, China to the United Kingdom light up their skies with fireworks, each seemingly trying to outdo one another in spectacle. 

Whilst many of those celebrating simply want to party their way into the new year, I believe there's something deeper at work. Fundamentally, there's a sense of relief that the current year has ended with all its challenges, and an expectation that the year to come will usher in something good. Yet this hope is often based on wishful thinking, because nothing actually changes between the 31st of December and the 1st of January. We're the same person, living in the same place, faced with the same circumstances.

In the Bible, however, we encounter a different kind of hope, one grounded not in wishful thinking but in divine promise. In Isaiah chapter 43, verses 18 and 19, we read these remarkable words: "Forget the former things, do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland." These words, most likely written around 550 to 539 BC, were spoken to a nation in exile. Israel had ignored the warnings given by various prophets, and the result was catastrophic: Jerusalem destroyed, and many of God's people taken into captivity in Babylon. These weren't circumstances that would naturally inspire hope. Yet God, in His mercy, promised that He would do a new thing.

This raises the crucial question: what is your hope anchored on? We can hope for many things, but unless our hope rests on something concrete or someone reliable, it remains merely a wish, as insubstantial as the smoke from those New Year fireworks drifting away into the night sky. 

The good news is that we can have a hope that is reliable, and that hope is found in God alone.
One of my all-time favourite verses in Scripture speaks directly to this truth. Proverbs chapter 3, verse 5 says, "Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight." This verse highlights several core truths that deserve our careful attention. First, it tells us that our absolute trust can only be in God. Trust placed in anything or anyone else will ultimately lead to disappointment. Certainly, we can have some level of trust in people we know well, but only God can be trusted absolutely and without reservation.

The second truth is equally important: we cannot ultimately trust in ourselves. How many times have you decided to do something, fully intending to follow through, but when the moment came, you couldn't muster the will to do it? Even when you possess the willpower to accomplish something, you may find yourself limited by circumstances beyond your control or by other people's actions. Our own strength, wisdom, and determination, whilst valuable, are simply not enough to navigate life's complexities.

If we cannot absolutely trust others and we cannot fully trust ourselves, it makes perfect sense to entrust our ways, our plans, goals, choices, and decisions into God's capable hands. When we do this, we receive a wonderful promise: "He will make your paths straight." 

But what does this actually mean in practical terms? It means that God will direct us in the right course of action when we're faced with difficult and confusing options. It means that He will reshape our plans so they conform with His purpose for our lives. And it means that He will help us walk in the right path, keeping us from veering off course.

As we step into this new year, the renewed hope that God offers isn't based on the arbitrary turning of a calendar page or the fading echoes of midnight celebrations. It's based on His unchanging character and His faithful promises. When you include God in every part of your life, actively seeking His will and choosing to obey Him, He will guide you in the right direction. 

The God who made a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland for exiled Israel is the same God who stands ready to do new things in your life today. That's not wishful thinking; that's renewed hope anchored in an eternal, trustworthy God who keeps His promises.