Blessed Year of the Horse #CNY #GetRest
By Ps Vernon Quek
A very Happy Chinese New Year to you!
I hope this past week has been a joyful one for you – filled with reunion dinners, visiting relatives, laughter with cousins, ang baos for the children, and perhaps a little too much pineapple tart and bak kwa. Chinese New Year in Singapore is always a special season: a time of thanksgiving, of fresh beginnings, of resetting relationships and rhythms.
This year, we welcome the Year of the Horse. In Chinese culture, the horse symbolises strength, speed, endurance and success. It represents drive and forward momentum. And as we step into a new year, many of us naturally think about progress – career plans, family goals, ministry hopes, financial stability, personal growth.
Interestingly, the Bible speaks a lot about horses. But often, it speaks about them as a warning.
Through the prophet Isaiah, God rebuked Judah when it sought a military alliance with Egypt to fight against the Assyrians during the reign of King Hezekiah:
“Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help
and rely on horses,
who trust in chariots because they are many
and in horsemen because they are very strong,
but do not look to the Holy One of Israel
or consult the LORD!”[1]
In the ancient world, horses were not farm animals. They were military technology. Horses and chariots represented national security, political alliances, and visible strength. When Judah felt threatened, they turned to Egypt and their horses. Horses meant power and protection.
But the issue was never the animals themselves. The issue was where God’s people placed their trust.
Would God’s people trust in visible strength, or in the invisible faithfulness of their covenant Lord? Psalm 20 puts it starkly:
“Some trust in chariots and some in horses,
but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.”[2]
[1] Isaiah 31:1
[2] Psalm 20:7
Friends, as we enter this Year of the Horse, it is good to ask ourselves the same question: Where will our confidence lie this year? In our savings? In our career trajectory? In our children’s achievements? In political stability? In our health and strength? In our own carefully laid plans? Or in the Lord?
This helpfully connects with our theme for 2026: #GetRest.
Real rest is not merely slowing down. It is not simply taking leave or clearing our calendar. Again, the prophet Isaiah has wisdom for us:
“In returning and rest you shall be saved;
in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.”
But you were unwilling, and you said,
“No! We will flee upon horses”…[3]
Notice that rest here is defined as turning to the Lord in quietly, confidently trusting in Him. God says that this is true strength!
True rest is not the absence of activity; it is the presence of confidence in God. It is the settled assurance that our future is not ultimately carried by horsepower – by anything else we may put our trust in – but by the Lord who holds all things in His hands.
Sadly, the people who Isaiah warned with these words ignored them. They heard these words but did not believe them. May we learn from their foolishness!
So as we start the new year, let’s wisely pray this prayer:
“Lord, teach me where I am trusting in horses.
And help me to trust in You instead.”
May this Year of the Horse be, for Zion Bishan, not a year of frantic striving or even a year of fruitless cutting back – but may it be a year where we grow in quiet confidence, of real rest in the Lord.
Once again, Happy Chinese New Year. May we truly #GetRest together in 2026.
[3] Isaiah 30:15-16
