Everyone loves a fresh start: a new year, a new job, a new city, a new relationship. Sometimes those changes are gifts from God, but they cannot fix what is broken inside us. You can change your address and keep your anger. You can change relationships and carry the same insecurity. You can make more money and still be ruled by greed.

A stereogram looks, at first, like a confusing mess of color and pattern, but when you adjust your perspective, a hidden image appears and you realize the creator placed every detail with intention. That is often how the world feels to us: political tension rises, injustice seems unchecked, ungodliness is celebrated, and powerful people appear to act without consequence.

Have you ever been glued to a TV show, anticipating the next scene, when all of a sudden the episode ends on a cliffhanger. Not knowing how the story ends is the worst. Daniel 7 reminds us that the future is not only known by God, but secured by God, and that truth gives peace to the people of God even when history feels unstable.

Humans love to ignore warnings. Maybe someone warned you about a relationship, a business decision, a friendship, a habit, or a financial choice, but instead of listening, you convinced yourself you knew better.

Be honest: When a flight attendant does their safety presentation before every flight, do you pay attention? Most passengers would say no, but when an emergency arises, we can all agree that the presentation matters a whole lot. When fear, confusion, and pressure rise, clear thinking becomes difficult; therefore, passengers are shown the exits before crisis comes so the right response is already settled in their minds.

One question follows us through life: What if the worst actually happens? Psychologists call this catastrophizing, when the mind runs toward the most devastating possible outcome, but the experience is deeply human before it is clinical. Our fears change with time, from losing someone we love, to never getting married, to something happening to our children, to a career collapsing, a marriage failing, or a diagnosis changing everything.