As we say goodbye to a year marked by trouble, disaster, and anxiety, it is tempting to hope that the coming year will somehow be different and finally grant us rest, peace, and happiness, yet honesty compels us to admit that the new year will almost certainly resemble the old, with its share of griefs, uncertainties, aging bodies, political disappointments, and economic strain; therefore, if we are to have a truly happy new year, it must be not because circumstances improve, but in spite of them. Happiness is not produced by time, conditions, or external change, but by inner security rooted in faith, and the unhappiest people are not those struck by disaster, but those who wait endlessly for life to become favorable before they will allow themselves peace. The years remain the same and offer little hope, but the Lord remains the same, and therein lies our confidence; when we stop waiting for conditions to change and instead wait upon the unchanging God, life itself is transformed. God does not promise happiness through altered circumstances, but through contentment in Him, teaching us to give thanks in all things and to seek first His kingdom and righteousness, trusting that everything truly needed will be added in His time and according to His will.