PERSPECTIVE
05th Jan 2022
We begin another year with all its uncertainties and challenges. As I was thinking about this, an old hymn came into my mind; it was a favourite of the Christian Brethren where I worshipped with my parents in earlier days. I think it was like a ‘national anthem’ for them!
How good is the God we adore,
Our faithful unchangeable friend;
His love is as great as His power,
And knows neither measure nor end.
’Tis Jesus the first and the last,
Whose Spirit shall guide us safe home,
We’ll praise Him for all that is past,
And trust Him for all that’s to come.
The last two lines have kept going through my mind and I have found myself singing them, sometimes out loud or just silently. “We’ll praise Him for all that is past.” Looking back with thanksgiving is so important because it is a key to being able to walk in blessing in the future. Psalm 50:23 is a key verse, “He who sacrifices thank offerings honours me, and he prepares the way so that I may show him my salvation.”
The last line, “And trust Him for all that’s to come.” As we look ahead we have no idea what is going to happen in the coming year, but we know who is going to be with us. I have noted a number of folk quoting the words that were spoken by King George 6 in his 1939 Christmas message during WW2;
And I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year: "Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown". And he replied: "Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the Hand of God. That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way". So I went forth, and finding the Hand of God, trod gladly into the night.
So as we go into another year, let us always remember to live in thanksgiving and to place our hand into the Hand of God.
When our children were very small and we were walking along the road, there were times when they would run freely, but times when we held them by the hand because of the dangers of traffic, etc. I developed a technique to prevent them pulling away and running into danger.
Holding the Hand of God is the safest way to walk into the future, because He knows what lies ahead and He loves and cares for you.
by Charles Sibthorpe
