Each New Year brings resolutions about the things we intend to change in the coming year. Perhaps we voice our desires to change what we wish to change or try something new. Perhaps we have dreams that are still unfulfilled, or we simply want our life to be different somehow. We are tired of the same old stuff. The same issues and frustrations are constant reminders that our lives have not gone anywhere. Our future looks as bleak as our past has been, and although we would like things to be different this next year, we don’t really hold out any hope.

I know a family that has been through much this past year. In fact, they have been through much over the past several years. Facing yet another issue, one of the parents asked whether anything good could come out of what they were dealing with. Seeing only the problem and the need to walk through yet another “issue,” the future didn’t seem all that hopeful. In these times, we might all like to crawl back into bed and wake up on a different day. But life doesn’t work that way, and although we might wish things would go away, the only way they will is when we jump into the midst of them. That is exactly what this family has done. Instead of letting the events of their lives control them, they are taking an active approach to working through them.

As an outsider looking into the lives of many people, I often observe things they cannot see. Take, for example, the family I was referring to. I have watched this family grow stronger. The couple’s relationship has grown stronger through their trials. Where they once lacked self-confidence, they are now willing to take steps they could not have taken a year ago. I have watched the whole family grow emotionally and spiritually. How are they doing this? They are practicing faith in a way that brings hope amid trials. Easy? No, but the outcome of their effort is making them stronger. Want life to change? Perhaps you’ll need to look past the trial and into the arena of faith that produces hope. Think about it.