“How has 2025 been treating you so far?”

It’s been three weeks since the start of 2025 and I’m reflecting on an unexpected beginning to the new year. While many were celebrating, I was dealing with an unwelcome visitor: a severe gout attack that started in the final days of 2024 and followed me into the new year.

For the past two weeks, I’ve been experiencing intense pain, but through this experience, I’ve gained some precious reflections I’d like to share.

Since returning from my December break, I had been operating on autopilot – rushing through tasks, preparing my sermon for Christmas, and looking into various ministry plans. I was caught up with busyness and was eagerly anticipating New Year’s Day as a chance to rest.

After the service on December 29, I noticed a subtle throbbing in my right knee. By the next day, the pain had intensified significantly. For those unfamiliar with gout, it’s a type of inflammatory arthritis caused by uric acid crystals forming in the joints. The pain is excruciating – imagine someone repeatedly hammering your joint or driving a nail into it.

Though I typically avoid gout medication due to its digestive side effects, the severity of this attack left me no choice. My plans for the year-end tasks crumbled as the pain overwhelmed me, bringing both tears and nervous laughter – so much so that my wife wondered if the pain had affected my mind.

During this humbling experience, two Scripture passages came to mind.

James 4:14-15 reminds us: “How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog—it’s here a little while, then it’s gone. What you ought to say is, ‘If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that.'”

This passage made me realize how caught up I’d become in my own agenda and plans. When the gout attack disrupted everything, I initially complained to God.

However, during those immobile moments, I recognized that I had been relying solely on my own capabilities rather than seeking the Lord’s guidance.

The second passage was 2 Corinthians 12:7-9, where Paul discusses his “thorn in the flesh.” Sometimes I wonder if Paul’s thorn might have been gout – perhaps a topic for future theological study!

Like Paul, I’ve repeatedly asked God to remove this affliction. While the pain has subsided somewhat, it lingers as a reminder that whether our struggles are physical, emotional, or spiritual, God’s grace is sufficient.

Like how James describes to us that our life is like a fog or mist, it is here a while then it’s gone. We make plans for our lives but we do not know what will happen the next day. Like a gout attack, it comes when you least expect it! And unfortunately, when you get gout, the pain doesn’t just stay for a while and then it’s gone. The pain usually lasts for a few weeks!

My gouty experience forced me to my knees – both literally and figuratively. While the gout immobilized me physically, it drove me to deeper prayer, seeking God’s mercy, healing, and grace. I had to abandon self-reliance and trust in God’s help to complete all that I needed to do despite the pain.

A New Year’s Day podcast by Dr Robert Solomon shared this story about a young naval captain commanding a battleship.

In foggy conditions, he encountered a light indicating a collision course and immediately ordered the lookout to radio the other ship.

“Change course 20 degrees. We are on collision course.”

The reply came back ‘”Advisable for you to change course.”

The captain took over the radio and said, ‘”I am a Captain. Change course 20 degrees.”

“I am a seaman second class. You had better change course 20 degrees” came the reply.

The captain was furious. He replied back ‘”I am a battleship. Change course!”

Back came the signal, “I am a lighthouse. Your call.”

Dr Solomon shared this illustration to teach the point that how we often believe we’re in control of our lives, trying to bend God’s plans to fit our agenda.

He suggests the following for us to think about in the new year:

• To include God in our plans

• To live daily lives in His presence

• To trust His guidance
  

Many of us begin each year like sprinters exploding from the starting blocks, charging ahead with our plans for our work, careers, studies, ministry, and family.

But I hope we take heed and encouragement from today’s sharing. Our lives are brief – like a mist for a very short while.

While we make plans for tomorrow thinking and expecting that we will wake up and face tomorrow resuming where we left off, remember God is the one who wills and knows our tomorrows. He ultimately directs our path.

Rather than rely on our own strength and wisdom, we must seek God’s guidance. We must constantly look to God and trust Him for His will and ways in our plans.

This might mean as God works His ways into our plans, we may see the course of our plans disrupted by Him so that we would see His hand in our plans revealing His presence in our lives!

Prayer:

Father, thank you for your constant presence. Forgive us when we rely too heavily on our own strength and wisdom, rushing ahead without seeking you. Help us slow down to match your pace and deepen our daily connection with you. Fill our lives with your love and joy as we walk this journey together. In Jesus’ name, Amen.