As 2022 draws to a close and the new year begins in earnest, we all tend to envision a prosperous and optimistic future. As we divorce ourselves from all the bad we experienced during the past year and look forward to a new beginning, let us not forget to seek the Lord’s guiding presence.
God has been with us in 2022, just as He has been from the beginning, and will be there until the end. Immanuel, God with us, is a promise that endures.
When we accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we received his constant joy and hope in His enduring promise. We can feel His presence through the gospel and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. So many in this world will enter 2023 without hope and peace that can only come through Christ.
So, before we focus on our appearances, goals, and vision boards for the New Year, let us remember our true calling to be fishers of men (Mark 1:17) and make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:19) by loving others as we love ourselves (Matthew 22:29).
In this Top-10 list, we have included audience-favorite questions that ranked highest in views and some personal favorites, as well as those that brought comfort and compassion in 2022.
1. Is Manifesting Our Lives for the Better Biblical? By Vivian Bricker
Manifestation teaches that if you focus on something hard enough, strive toward it, and fully believe in it, then it will happen in your life. If you manifest your end result in your mind, you will physically receive the same end result in real life.
However, it is important to note that no matter how much we want or strive toward something, it will not happen if it’s not in God’s plan. As believers, the best thing to do is to pray, seek God’s counsel, and take any necessary steps we can take personally.
2. How Are the Righteous as Bold as a Lion? By Jessica Brodie
Like a lion, the righteous are unfettered by their conscience. Their conscience is clear and pure, and they can proceed with peace and rest knowing they are guided and cared for by God Almighty. God Almighty has complete and absolute power over all things. Indeed, He created the universe, and all rightfully bow to Him.
Righteousness is living in line with that truth. God is like a lion, only far more powerful. And when we are righteous — that is, when we walk in alignment with Him — we can have the courage and boldness of a lion, too.
3. How Can We Completely Trust in God? By Candice Lucey
Learning to trust God is a process in which he repeatedly proves himself in the believer’s life. Eventually, it becomes clear that nothing and no one else can provide a permanent antidote to fear, sadness, and pain.
We can trust him by resting in him. This takes practice and involves giving up those habits, which were a distraction from fear and an expression of mistrust and impatience. We learn, by practice, to find peace in God.
4. Why Is it Pleasant When God’s People Live Together in Unity? By Sophia Bricker
Unity is important in the body of Christ because of this tendency to fight and quarrel. Since we are all one in Christ, a part of His church, then we should seek to get along.
When we live together in unity with other believers, we demonstrate the power of the gospel and live in a way that pleases the Lord. As Psalm 133 teaches us, it is pleasant for believers to live in harmony.
5. What Does it Mean to ‘Forget Not All His Benefits’? By Mike Leake
This is what the psalmist means when he says that he has forgiven all our iniquity. As you recount your pain, you recount your sin, and you recount all of the ways in which you have been disappointed don’t forget that there is another story — a better story — to be told. He is good and has always done you good.
Psalm 103 is a great reminder of the Lord’s goodness. Follow along with the psalmist and make it a daily practice to recite and remember God’s benefits to you.
6. What Is the Significance of the Phrase ‘Peace Be with You’? By Alicia Searl
Jesus calls us to do the same. He longs to use us to spread His message and proclaim the good news! We may not feel capable, but with the Holy Spirit inside of us, we are more than able.
It just takes finding that peace that passes all understanding, allowing us to live boldly, trusting His plan, and walking with a mission for Christ. So, if our world is yearning for peace, let’s offer it to them!
7. How Are Those Who Hunger and Thirst for Righteousness Blessed? By Ed Jarrett
This parable illustrates what Jesus is telling the audience for this beatitude. The Pharisees of Jesus’ day were fully expecting to be among those who would feast in the kingdom of God. While those gathered around Jesus probably had little hope of that honor.
Blessed, or happy, are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness because they will sit down with Jesus at the great feast in the kingdom of God and be filled.
8. How Jesus Can Ultimately Empathize with Our Rejection By Madeline Kalu
It is because of Jesus’ first-hand experience with rejection that we can identify with Him and approach Him as a friend who will comfort us, empathize with us, and be a role model for us in how we can respond to our own rejection.
Rejection is a ride through the valley; however, the good thing is you get to offload what isn’t serving you and leave it behind in the shadowy darkness where it belongs.
9. How Can Christians Overcome the Darkness of Life?
No matter how dark things may seem, light can spread through the darkness and illuminate our lives. No matter what level of darkness is present in our lives, Jesus gives us the hope to live in freedom.
When we let others know our sins and confess to God and others, we keep our souls clean, ridding of any sin that may hinder us from living fully in the light.
10. Why Does Love Not Keep Any Records of Wrong? By Michelle Treacy
Love does not hold on to past hurts, but love is a choice in our relationships with others. We choose to love others by being kind, being patient, putting others before ourselves, holding our tongue when it would be easier to bite back, and not keeping a record of the wrongdoings done by others.
We’ll Drink a Cup of Kindness Yet
As we consider these and other questions about our faith, may we gain compassion and understanding from our Savior so that we may shine His love and light in a darkened world as we leave the old behind and embrace the new with our Alpha and Omega, our Prince of Peace, Lord of lords, and King of kings.
For further reading:
Christianity.com's Top 10 Questions of Peace in 2021
All-Time Questions Christians Asked in 2022
Top 10 Questions of Faith in 2019
Photo Credit: ©iStock/Getty Images Plus/oatawa
Molly Law is the Editor of C.com. She has a Master of Arts in Publishing Studies from the University of Stirling, UK, where she studied and lived for a year in Scotland. She has a Bachelor of Arts in English Professional Writing from Gardner-Webb University. Her editorial career includes Senior Editor of a bimonthly magazine for the nonprofit ACA and Editorial Assistant at Luath Press in Edinburgh, UK. She enjoys reading 18th-century British Literature, creative writing, and traveling.
