While watching the New Year celebrations on television, a strange though very ordinary thing happened. It was not yet New Year in Chicago, where I was, but the New Year had already arrived elsewhere. India had welcomed it with fireworks and selfies. China had stepped into it with colour and crowds. Dubai glittered its way into midnight. London’s Big Ben rang out with dignified certainty. The year had reached so many places before it reached me.

For a moment, I felt oddly left behind. Time itself seemed to be walking ahead, tapping me on the shoulder as if to say, we have moved on, catch up when you can. And then a gentler thought arrived, one that settled quietly and refused to leave.

It felt as though these countries were walking ahead of me, not to taunt me, but to tell me something reassuring. We are already there. The road is safe. Midnight has passed. The year has begun. You will get here too.

That is when the verse surfaced in my mind, familiar and comforting. “The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.” It is found in the book of Deuteronomy, chapter 31, verse 8.

What a thought that is. God does not merely walk beside us, adjusting His pace to ours. He goes ahead. He steps into our tomorrows before we ever arrive there. He stands in places we worry about, long before our fears do. He is present in conversations we dread, in decisions we have not yet made, in days we think we might not survive.

Most of our anxiety comes from imagining the unknown. We fear next year because we have not been there. We worry about change because it has not yet happened. But if God goes ahead, then the unknown is unknown only to us, not to Him.

Watching the New Year roll across time zones reminded me that waiting does not mean abandonment. Just because it had not yet struck midnight for me did not mean the year was not real. It was already unfolding elsewhere. In the same way, just because answers have not yet arrived does not mean God is absent. He is already at work, already ahead, already preparing.

As midnight finally reached Chicago, there was no dramatic revelation. Just a quiet sense of peace. The calendar changed, but the truth remained the same.

God was already there.

And so I step into this year without fear. Not because I know what lies ahead, but because I know who goes ahead of me. When God walks in front, there is nothing to panic about. The path may twist. The pace may vary. But the destination is secure.

What a lovely thought to begin a year with.

My God goes ahead…!

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