In her book “Until The Final Hour; Hitler’s Last Secretary, Traudl Junge writes, “When I was 22 and eager for adventure, I was fascinated by Adolph Hitler… (I) deliberately ignored the warning voice inside of me, although I heard it clearly enough. I have learned to admit that I enjoyed working for him, almost to the bitter end. After the revelation of his crimes, I shall always live with the sense I must share the guilt.”

Like Traudl Junge, there are many who people live with tremendous guilt and regret in their lives over things they have done in the past. In my role as a pastor, I have counselled a number of people battling guilt over many things such as an illicit affair they got into or an abortion they had.

Because we are created in the image of God, whenever we engage in wrongdoing, our conscience will alert us to it and we will experience guilt.

In the Bible, David King of Israel wrote of his experience of guilt in Psalms 38:4-8: “My guilt has overwhelmed me like a burden too heavy to bear. My wounds fester and are loathsome because of my sinful folly. I am bowed down and brought very low; all day long I go about mourning. My back is filled with searing pain; there is no health in my body. I am feeble and utterly crushed; I groan in anguish of heart.”

Perhaps today you are struggling with guilt in your life over things you have done that you know are wrong. How do you get rid of the guilt in your life?

I know there are some people try who simply try to ignore it. I remember once seeing a bumper sticker: “Screw guilt.” But that doesn’t work. But if people are honest, the guilt of their sins haunts them.

Others will do anything to to try to relieve their guilt. They’ll try to cope by taking drugs or getting drunk or going to therapy or various other things that they hope will distract their minds:  go to Disneyland; thrills; travel; become workaholics. Anything to cover up the things I wish I hadn’t done in my life.

But here’s the good news: the God who created us never intended that we remain in that guilt. He designed guilt as a way of leading us to repentance and receiving of forgiveness.

And we receive that forgiveness by coming to God and asking Him for it: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9.) Because Jesus died on the cross, He paid the penalty for all my sins and made it possible for me to be forgiven.

Lee Roberts tells how one summer as a camp counsellor, the boys in  his cabin were playing with a 10 foot tree branch, pretending it was a javelin. One of the boys accidentally threw the “javelin” and broke the windshield of Lee’s car. They went to Lee and  told him what had happened. Joe, one of the boys admitted, “I had a stick and threw it and it kind of left a mark on your windshield.”

Lee went and inspected the damage. Sure enough, there was a large crack in the windshield. He then went back to the boy, who by now was petrified over what he had done. Lee says, “Taking his shoulders in my hands and looking squarely in his eyes, I said, ‘Joe, these are the sort of things insurance is for. Don’t worry. Relax. It’s all taken care of.’”

Roberts concludes, “At that point, I could feel the tension drain from his body!”

Often we are hounded by fear, guilt and shame. At those times, Jesus comes to us, takes our shoulders into His hands, looks at squarely in our eyes and says, “These are the sorts of things My blood is for. Don’t worry. Relax. It’s all taken care of.”

Recently, I came across “The New Year’s Prayer”: “Dear Lord,  So far this year I’ve done well. I haven’t gossiped, I haven’t lost my temper, I haven’t been greedy, grumpy, nasty, selfish, or overindulgent. I’m very thankful for that. But in a few minutes, Lord, I’m going to get out of bed and from then on, I’m probably going to need a lot more help. Amen.”

As we look forward to 2021, I think all of us are going to need a lot more help. When I think back to January 1, 2020, who would have ever thought at that time we would have the year we did? So, that begs the question: what will 2021 look like?

As we anticipate 2021, there are lots of questions: how long will COVID hang around? What will a “Post-COVID” world look like? What about that new strain that was discovered in England and is now in Canada? What about the vaccines they are talking about? What does the future hold?

Because of all of this uncertainty, there are many people who are looking forward to the New Year with fear, and especially because of all those COVID-related challenges. One example of this came up in a video I recently watched, entitled, “Covid long-haulers fear for their future”. It stated that months after the initial infection, significant numbers of COVID patients are finding themselves dealing with ongoing symptoms such as brain fog, shortness of breath, heart arrhyrthmia, hypertension, persistent fever and even complications such as organ damage.

I’ve seen this with our friends, Randy and Margo Hoffman who last April  both contracted COVID. They recovered but just last week, Randy sent an email asking for prayer “for Margo and I to continue to recover. She still feels extra tiredness at times, and I am still experiencing a lack of stamina and endurance. I also have extra aches and pains – arthritis that has been exacerbated by COVID.”

Now some folks are looking forward to 2021 with hope because of the new vaccines that are coming out, which they see as the light at the end of a very dark tunnel. A friend sent me an excited email about this: “It seems like an answer to prayers, that maybe the world, church services and so much more might come back to normal soon!”

At the same time, we recognize there are those who vigorously oppose the proposed immunizations and who see these vaccines as being the worst possible thing.

Actually many people, good people, stand on opposite sides of that debate. When someone recently asked me my opinion on whether or not to take the new vaccine, I said the way I am going to decide is by going to God in prayer and asking what He wants me to do. I believe this is a decision every believer should make between themselves and God. We are under His authority and His alone. What others do or don’t do should not enter into our final decision.

Finally, I myself am looking to the future with hope. I do so because of two things. One is because I am assured that as I go into the future, God will go with me.  He has promised, “Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you.” And secondly, it’s because I know how it will all turn out in the end.

When asked, “Aren’t you afraid of the future?” one Christian man replied, “No I’m not. That’s because I’ve read the last Book of the Bible, Revelation and I found out: we win.”