Let’s Welcome Year 2021
Looking Back
Year 2020 was a year of disasters…
1. Australia’s wildfires
Since September 2019, bushfires from southeastern Australia had spread rapidly for 4 months until the major rainfall arrived, resulting in the destruction of more than 6 million hectares of land. The affected area is 60 times more severe than the bushfires in California in 2018 and 7 times in Amazon. As many as 500 million animals, including 30% of the Australian koalas, have died. (Note 1)
2. Global Locust Plague
Wherever the locusts went, all the crops were stripped. In December 2019, the most severe locust plague in 70 years took place in Kenya. The productivity of locusts has rapidly multiplied 64 million times within one and a half years in Africa. The locust plague not only ravaged East African countries, but also invaded Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Oman, Iran, and even West Asia and South Asia such as Pakistan and India along both sides of the Red Sea, causing more than 20 countries to suffer the worst locust plague in 25 years. (Note 3)
3. African Swine fever
The mortality rate of infected pigs is as high as 100%. Since the outbreak in Liaoning, China last August, the virus has spread to many Asian countries, causing nearly 5 million pigs to die. (Note 4)
4. Bird Flu
This year’s bird flu has broken out all over the world, and the Middle East is currently a severe area of bird flu virus outbreaks.
5. Influenzas
Flu has been a health killer in the U.S. According to the CDC, between 2018 and 2019, 35.5 million people were infected, 30,400 died, and the epidemic hastily spread to 30 states. (Note 5)
6. COVID-19
The outbreak of coronavirus in China shocked the whole world. In 2019 and the virus vigorously spread throughout the world to become pandemic. Looking back in November 2020, in the United States, there were 13.7 million confirmed cases and 269,000 deaths (Note 6). The pandemic also hit the U.S. and global economies severely, causing a great economic recession, even worse than the 1983 financial tsunami.
In May 2019, the U.S. unemployment rate rose from the lowest point in half a century (before the virus outbreak) to 12%. When the pandemic gradually stabilized, the Trump administration helped the United States gradually open up to revive the economy. In August 2019, the unemployment rate fell to 8.4% for the first time (Note 7).
As the economy was gradually on track again, more confirmed cases have suddenly risen again. Will it be the second wave of the virus? Some countries even re-closed again, causing people to panic.
7. Pandemic and Election
Vaccines finally came into the market slightly after the Election. Yet the Democrats turned this into an opportunity to accuse Trump for being “indifferent” about covid19. Though over 74 million citizens voted for Trump, he lost drastically, causing the general public to doubt the validity of the ticket counting machines.
8. Under Biden’s Rule
The U.S. would be extremely leftist, swaying from God, welcoming Islamic ideology, and rejecting Christianity (Note 9) over the next four years, even more severely than Obama’s administration. In the 2020 Democratic National Convention, the declaration of “In God We Trust” was intentionally omitted. (Note 10) Besides, more extreme legislative policies might come into effect: late-stage abortion, elimination of borders, massive admission of illegal immigrants, atheism in public schools, leftist education, abandonment of ICE (no more deporting criminals who entered the country illegally), defunding police, promotion of LGBTQ, raising taxes, nominations of atheist judges in the Supreme Court… (Note 11)
Facing forward to Year 2021
1. Pray for the U.S
However, none of the political parties or presidents can truly save the U.S. to the end. The apostle Paul in the Bible said, “I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people— for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.” Let’s continue to pray for the U.S. for God’s mercy.
2. Trust God
Year 2020 was an unstable year of troubles. But in the Bible, Hebrews 13:8 says: “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” God is stable and trustworthy. The psalmist in Psalms 13:8 wrote, “The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.” Up to this point, you might be wondering how you can feel this eternal peace and take refuge in God…
3. Be a New Creation
Jesus loves us so much that He willingly shed His blood to save us from our sins but rose from the dead in 3 days: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” (2 Corinthians 5:17) In addition, we need “to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.” (Ephesians 4:23-24) This New Creation is blessed in 3 ways:
- To be accompanied by the Holy Spirit: God’s Spirit constantly teaches, comforts, sustains, and encourages us under any unstable circumstances.
- To drop off our heavy burdens: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28)
- To be positive and joyful: “Rejoice always, pray continually…” (Thessalonians 5:16-17)
Would you consider being a New Creation as your New Year’s Resolution?
(Notes 1-11 from various websites)
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