Death to 2020

That’s what they’re saying. We’ve had enough. We’ve got through it. Now don’t come back like that again. Let’s never speak of it again.

You don’t need me to list the things that shook the world this year. It’s not like you don’t know. It’s not as if you could escape from it. How do you feel about 2020, as you look back?

Maybe you shudder just at the thought of it.
You are haunted by the word ‘unprecedented’. That word which they said over and over again, making us feel there was no ground beneath our feet, that we were lost at sea.
The memories of day after day stuck in your home. Where time stood still or just drifted past you. And you felt trapped. Or desperately, desperately alone.
The memories of day after day rushed off your feet, wishing you could be at home. Wishing you could be safe.
The jolt of terror you felt as you watched the news. Or as that tickle in your throat became something more.
The anxiety as you waited for that result.
The sleepless nights of doubt and worry. Or endless, ceaseless tears.
The frustration that they’re just not doing enough. Or that they’re doing too much, they’ve blown this out of proportion.
The tensions in relationships where you just don’t see eye to eye and you can’t escape each other.
The exhaustion of working out what’s right to do, what’s safe.
The disappointment of hopes dashed to pieces.
Unimaginable grief or loss.
Goodbye, 2020. Good riddance. You were unprecedented, now don’t come back.

But is it as easy as that?

What if the wounds are deeper than you knew?
They say that what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.
But in the words of Frodo Baggins, “how do you go on, when in your heart you begin to understand… there is no going back? There are some things that time cannot mend. Some hurts that go too deep.”
Is there anyone who comes into 2021 without scars?

Goodbye, 2020. Good riddance.

But what if that’s not the right way to think of time?
Was 2020 just a blemish on the landscape? A stain we wish never happened, and we just need to put behind us?

What if there was meaning in it? What if it was meant to be this way? What if there is One who was working every single moment for a greater purpose? What if these tears can be redeemed? What if there is healing for these wounds?

Doesn’t that give a different perspective to 2020?

Nothing was wasted. No tear, no fear, no loss was in vain. Will you give the year 2020 to God? Bring it all to Him. Give it over to him. Let him redeem it. Let him redeem you.

Doesn’t it also give a different perspective to 2021?

A year which might feel full of hope. A year which might look just as bleak.
My times are in His hands. I can trust him with it. He will work everything for good. And he will never let me go.

We might not understand it all now. How the healing happens, how the redemption will come. But someday we will.