I woke up to the worst news this morning. One that makes you lie in bed longer than is necessary, considering all the “whys” and “what ifs”. It was a sharp and hard blow. Nothing anyone should have to deal with at any point, not to talk of within the festive season.

A dear friend lost her husband in such a tragic way and because of the genesis of our friendship, it really hit home. With absolutely no words of comfort I had to offer, I typed a frustrating “I’m praying for an endless supply of Gods strength for you this season”, knowing she will need a whole lot of strength to confront her thoughts and emotions, after just 2 years of marriage.

It threw me off so bad, I couldn’t do my devotion, and after several hours of just lying still, I mustered courage to open my bible where I spent time reading the last three chapters of Hebrews. The faith book, typical.

Chapter 12 particularly spoke to my heart, not just on the hurt of this morning, but for the days of 2025 and I really felt led to share this with you who will read.

The chapter starts with a reminder of the cloud of witnesses that surrounds us in this life of faith, and this means that for every high and low we experience, people before us have been there, not sure how much of comfort this should be, but the bible shares it as an encouragement, that “you’re not the first, you won’t be the last, people who have been where you are, stay cheering you on, so keep moving”. (It’s reading stuff like this that remind me that we’re soldiers in an army and not just children of a king).

I put myself in my friend’s shoes and that stung. But in spite, she is surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses; like Anna, like Naomi, like Orpah and Ruth. She might not know it but they’re holding her up right now.

Same with you, no matter where you stand, witnesses stand there with you, cheering you on and offering encouragement of the guaranteed end the bible speaks of; victory.

So since we have this cheerleading squad that surrounds us, Paul goes further to encourage us to “strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And to run with endurance the race God has set before us.”

Occurrences of life could get very heavy, case in point is the introduction of this post, worst thing we can do is to strap even more weight to ourselves which will slow us down even more. So for 2025, be intentional to name those weights and put them down. It will look very different to all of us, but you know them inside you, for some it’s fear, anger, envy, greed, pain or shame, for others, it is sleep, food, work and play, for many others, it’s sinful relationships, ungodly thoughts and premeditated sin. Whatever and whoever does not help you run is weight. Drop it.

Something beautiful Paul does for us after telling us to throw off these weights and run with endurance is to tell us the how to do that! He said “We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith”. ~ Hebrews‬ ‭12‬:‭1‬-‭2‬

Let your eye be steady in 2025, let your focus be one, let singleness of heart be a daily pursuit, to pursue, desire, see and yearn for Jesus alone. Paul says that it is by this we will easily drop weights and reject sin, it is by this we will receive the comfort of the Holy Spirit and the encouragement of our cloud of witnesses.

Later down same chapter, Paul gives us practical things to consider, he says “Work at living in peace with everyone, and work at living a holy life, for those who are not holy will not see the Lord”. Peace vertically with God is always evidenced in peace horizontally with men. Let your 2025 reflect this. Let your salvation have evidence, let the gospel we’ve come into be seen in our holy living; in speech, action, dressing, thoughts and relationships.

Only by this will we see God, and that’s the goal. To see God everyday in everything!

And as we submit ourselves to the admonishment of Paul, he ends with a prayer over us, which I pray over you too; “ May God equip you with all you need for doing His will. May He produce in you, through the power of Jesus Christ, every good thing that is pleasing to Him” ~ Hebrews‬ ‭13‬:‭21‬

Let 2025 be the year we walk in the fear of God and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, against all odds.

Sending my best wishes for your 2025. We don’t have to know what it holds, we already know who we walk with and that’s all the assurance we need.

In advance, Happy New Year!🌹