Will 2023 be a better year?

My Journal - Agatha Nolen

Many of us had high expectations for 2022. After two years of the pandemic, 2022 had to be a better year. I heard a lot of people anxious to get back to “normal” and others vowed to make some changes and be thoughtful in their commitments. We were all relieved that the pandemic had subsided and that we had medications that at least made for lesser symptoms but did 2022 step up to our expectations?

This past week I’ve talked with many people who expressed disappointment that 2022 wasn’t what they had hoped. For me, I spent a lot of it recovering from emergency knee surgery which caused a lot of changed plans. I was thankful that I made it to my high school reunion in July but other trips with friends had to be cancelled. Twelve weeks with no driving and twenty weeks of physical therapy consumed my year as a constant reminder how physical limitations cause schedule adjustments. I was thankful for good friends who got me to doctor’s and physical therapy appointments and brought me food.

One close friend mused that we should lower our expectations for 2023. Maybe we want for too much. Wanting less will not change the circumstances but will at least cause us to see the year in a different light.

I’d like to suggest that we ask a different question. Instead of asking if 2023 will be a better year, as Christians we only have one question to answer: “Do we trust that God will make everything right?” This is a much harder question to answer, but more practical when we have hope that eventually God will make everything right and there will be a new heaven and earth. It might not happen in 2023, or even in our lifetime, but we must believe that in eternity, God will conquer evil where there will be no more tears, and death will be no more.

To all my friends who have lost loved ones in the past few years, or had their expectations dashed: we may experience disappointments and chaos again in 2023 but we must trust that God will make everything right.

Blessings, my friend,
Agatha