New Year’s Day
House guests are gone, house is a mess, and … much too quiet.
I flip through the familiar dog-eared pages of 2013. Each week is marked with hand-written appointments and events that defined and filled twelve months of my life.
As I hang up the 2014 calendar, the days are numbered, but unspoken for…filled with possibility.
Not knowing what tomorrow brings is like traveling uncharted waters. I can be excited, make plans, hope for the best, but who knows?
So many prayer requests come to mind; people waiting, hoping the New Year includes a …
· Baby
· Job
· Promotion
· Home
· Restored health
· Marriage
· Grandchildren’s welfare
For some, not knowing … if these things will come to pass … invokes anxiety.
Others know change is on the horizon, and that stirs fear.
So how can I face a calendar of unknowns, or the thought of current difficulties never ending?
By remembering the people in the Christmas story who experienced fear, and how God responded.
“Do not be afraid, Mary; for you have found favor with God.” (Luke 1:30)
“Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for that which has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.” (Matthew 1:20)
“And the angel said to them (shepherds), ‘Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy which shall be for all the people.” (Luke 2:10)
What seemed like scary circumstances was the means for something good to happen.
“And she will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for it is He who will save His people from their sins.” (Matthew 1:21)
This same Jesus, knowing He’d die on a cross to save people from their sins, and that His disciples would undergo horrid circumstances, assured them,
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” (John 14:27)
Peace depends on my relationship with Christ, not my circumstances.
Can I wrap my mind around this FACT instead of getting tangled in my FEELINGS?
I can face the unknown because I know Christ.
And He says, “Do Not be afraid.”
Even in this…..
Even In This 