As our community turns the page into a new year, many of us do so with mixed emotions—hope for what may come, questions about what will change, and perhaps a lingering uncertainty about the challenges we carry with us.

In the Christian tradition, this season invites reflection, and one verse has echoed through generations as a beacon of reassurance: “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord… (Jeremiah 29:11).

These words were first spoken to a people living in exile, displaced, discouraged, and unsure of their future. They were not a quick promise of ease, but an invitation to trust. God assured them that even in their waiting, He was at work, shaping a future filled with hope.

As a new year dawns, that message still resonates. We may not know what lies ahead, whether in our families, our health, our work, or our wider world, but faith reminds us that uncertainty is not the same as abandonment. Jeremiah’s verse points us not to our own carefully crafted plans, but to God’s steady purposes.

I believe God encourages us to begin the year not with fear of what might go wrong, but with openness to what God may yet do. It calls us to patience in seasons of delay, perseverance in disappointment, and gratitude in unexpected blessings. It does not promise that every road will be smooth, but it assures us that none of them are walked alone.

In our local churches this month, prayers are rising for renewal—renewal of spirit, of community, of compassion. May we step into this year with hope that is not fragile but rooted. And as we make resolutions, may we remember a deeper truth: that God’s plans are not limited by our uncertainties.

The calendar has changed. God’s faithfulness has not.

Rev Mike Davies, Senior Minister, Inspiration Church, Okehampton