In2theRiver

Good morning from Westminster, MD!

As I write this, it is the first day of 2026. Happy New Year! Upon entering a new year, I try to take advantage of the opportunity to be intentional. This is something I have written about the past two years (click here to read last year’s post). You see, there is nothing particular unique about the day changing from December 31st to January 1st. Instead, it is our willingness to take a step that makes a difference.

In thinking about what that step might be for me in 2026, it is not much different from 2025. You could say I am a still a “work in progress”. Entering 2025, my vision was to live life in a posture of receiving instead of grasping. This is a real challenge for me. Years ago, I was challenged to consider the lies that could be preventing me from living the life for which I was created. To say it another way, lies keep me from stepping into God’s best for me. This has been life changing in many ways for me and something I have now encouraged others to do. My ability to control outcomes is one of the lies that I have struggled with the most.

Lies, especially those that influence the way we live, are tricky. This is because they often contain a bit of truth. This is certainly the case for my belief that I can and must control outcomes. The truth is I do have a role to play in the outcome of the circumstances, both good and bad, in my life. The lie is I have the ability to ensure every circumstance turns out the way I desire. This lie distorts the good truth of living intentionally and leads me to put myself in the position of God. This does not go well for anyone. Unfortunately, the longer I allow the lie to live in me, the more it misshapes my heart and impacts my life.

The good news is my heart, and yours as well, can be reformed. One step we can take to participate in the reformation process is to replace lies with truth. This is the second part of the exercise I was challenged to complete. It starts with identifying the lie but without replacing it with truth, it will always find its way back in our hearts. For me this looked like searching for what God had to say about this life in His Word. Truth must stand on a foundation and there is no greater foundation the Creator of all things. By taking the step of exposing my heart to the truth of God, I am putting it in a position to be reshaped by that same God.

The lie I have been confronting over the past year could be summed up as my belief that I need to control outcomes. The opposing truth is the reality I need to do my part and trust God with the rest. This in part flows out of God’s promise to Joshua, and us, that we can be “strong and courageous” because He, “will be with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:9) This is why I focused on receiving instead of grasping in 2025. The promise isn’t based on my abilities but rather the character and care of my God who loves me. In working through this, a key component of the truth continually came to mind: trust. This is my vision entering 2026.

The idea of surrendering control of outcomes that are ultimately out of my hands sounds great but is impossible without trust. The act of surrender is typically if not always a yielding to someone else. When it’s conditional, trust may not be involved. However, true surrender of the outcomes of our lives requires real trust.

Trust is something that requires a level of wisdom. When we trust someone or something, it is important to assess its trustworthiness. I won’t get too far into this process in this post, but it is important. The hard part comes after the assessment process. It is the step to actually trust someone or something. This cannot be done passively. True trust requires action. That is our part. Once we trust, the rest is in God’s hands.

So, what does the action of trusting look like? I don’t think it always looks the same, but I will share a step I plan to take in 2026. In 2025, I had the chance to consider the spiritual practice of sabbath. Again, I won’t get too deep into what I learned about sabbath in this post, but it did reinforce the value of resting from the regular rhythms and activities of life. It is effectively a step of trust, believing the world will continue to go around, even if I am not contributing to its rotation.

in 2026, I plan to activate my trust by creating regular rhythms of rest and disconnection from my need to be productive. My hope is to incorporate the practice of sabbath over the course of the year. I cannot get better at trusting if I do not practice it. I have a tendency to define my value by what I do and produce so by intentionally choosing to take a step back from it, I am putting myself in a position to trust God with my self-worth. If my self-worth is no longer completely tied to what I do, I no longer have to control outcomes to prove that I have value.

Over the next year, I will share some of my journey toward living with greater trust in God. I truly believe it will lead to more freedom. It starts with an intentional step of trust by me and ends with a trustworthy God keeping his promises. Here’s to living into God’s best in 2026!

James Belt

Click here​ for more resources to help you bring hope to others, including more information about my book, Hope Realized!