A HEADLINE in a national newspaper recently caught my eye. With all the uncertainties of the cost-of-living crisis, the condition of our health service and the implications of the strikes, I am sure it caught many other eyes and looked ‘attractive’. It claimed readers could ‘wake up to a new year with no worries’, and the article that followed offered them numerous techniques to stop their ‘internal panic alarm’.

As a Christian, there is something I can offer. That is advice grounded in faith and trust that God is in control, the God who, as we celebrated at Christmas, became Immanuel, meaning ‘God with us’. To quote one of the psalmists, the advice is this: ‘cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you’ (Psalm 55:22). However, this advice is not just a technique that involves our own minds and bodies. It is a way of being enveloped in a relationship built on God’s love, promises and plans for humankind. It is an instruction and a promise for those who recognise their own need for God’s presence, and help, in their lives.

When Jesus was talking about God the Father’s provision, and creation, he said ‘do not worry’. He also asked the question ‘who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life?’ (Matthew 6:25-34). The word used for ‘worry’ means to go to pieces, to be distracted, and Jesus was asking his listeners to rest in the surety that their needs and situations are known. If we place our lives in God’s hands, we will see God’s hands in our lives.

How do we cast our cares on the Lord? The apostle Paul reminds us of the importance of prayer: ‘don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank Him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus’ (Philippians 4:6-7). This is a peace that no one, or nothing, else can give as it originates from God the Father, God the Son, Jesus, and God the Holy Spirit.

And, so, I wonder. Do you need to receive this peace today? Is this new year an opportunity to not only place your life in God’s hands, but to also try praying?