2026: By God's grace, take it one day at a time

This is the season for New Year resolutions, for making plans and setting goals for the year ahead.

We might find that prospect exciting; there are new opportunities and challenges in view, and we look forward with anticipation to what the Lord might do. But the New Year can also be overwhelming. The challenges are so great, the future so uncertain, that we wonder how we will get through 2026.

It is interesting that the Scriptures don’t promise us grace for the coming year, but rather for one day at a time. When Jesus speaks about anxiety, He counsels us not to look further ahead than today: “Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” (Matt.6v34) As one commentator puts it “tomorrow is a promise, not a possession.” If we live our lives anticipating the future we will be prone not only to anxiety but also presumption (James 4v13ff). The Lord gives us one day at a time, and He gives us grace for one day at a time.

This does not mean that we should make no plans, or be unambitious for the Lord’s glory. Indeed, the context of Matthew 6 is Jesus’ command that we should devote our whole lives to seeking the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. We are right to labour for the advance of the gospel in the world. But in the Great Commission, as Jesus commands us to make disciples of all nations, His promise is that He will be with us, literally, “all the days” (usually translated “always” Matt.28v20). Each day there will be new opportunities, there will be fresh challenges – and temptations and distractions to lead us astray. The Lord will be with us each and every day as we seek to serve Him.

The apostle Paul did not know from day to day what opportunities and troubles he would face, but he had learned to be content, knowing that “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.” He bore his thorn in the flesh, knowing that the Lord would give “grace sufficient” day by day.

Corrie ten Boom faced a more challenging situation as a child than many of us will face in all of life. Her father gave encouragement by reminding her that he would only give her the train ticket as she was about to get on the train. “And our wise Father in heaven knows when we’re going to need things, too. Don’t run out ahead of Him, Corrie. When the time comes that some of us will have to die, you will look into your heart and find the strength you need – just in time.”

The demands and pressures, even the opportunities, of 2026 might seem now to be overwhelming. But, as the old saying goes, how do you eat an elephant? The answer is, of course, one bite at a time. So we live and serve the Lord one day at a time, according to His good pleasure and according to the strength and grace He gives.