When all seems dark...

But as for me, I will watch expectantly for the Lord;
I will wait for the God of my salvation.
My God will hear me.
Do not rejoice over me, O my enemy.
Though I fall I will rise;
Though I dwell in darkness, the Lord is a light for me.

Micah 7:7-8

Waiting

I wait for the Lord, my soul does wait,

And in His word do I hope.

My soul waits for the Lord

More than the watchmen for the morning;

Indeed, more than the watchmen for the morning.

Psalm 130:5-6

If the Lord Jehovah makes us wait, let us do so with our whole hearts; for blessed are all they that wait for Him. He is worth waiting for. The waiting itself is beneficial to us: it tries faith, exercises patience, trains submission, and endears the blessing when it comes. The Lord's people have always been a waiting people... They have cried and do wait; probably their past prayer sustains their present patience. --C. H. Spurgeon

In all your waitings remember two things: Let it not be so much the event which you wait for, as the Lord of the event; the Lord in the event. And take care that you have a promise underneath you-- "in His word do I hope"-- else "waiting" will be too much for you, and after all it may be in vain. --James Vaughan

* * *

These days are waiting days; they are praying days and wondering days and battling days. But they are hoping days-- we hope not merely for a showering of His blessings here in our earthly lives, but for what we know is to come: eternal joy in His presence. The psalmist said, "I wait for the Lord... and in His word do I hope."

In His word: this is where our true hope lies. It is not a flimsy, wishful hope for temporal blessings, but rather a firmly grounded hope rooted in the knowledge that He who promised is faithful. He hasn't promised to give us everything we want; He hasn't promised to give children to our family; but He has promised us so many things that are incomparably more precious. It is in those promises that we hope.

Waiting would indeed be too much for our feeble, dusty frames were it not for the promises of His word that hold us up. Waiting would indeed be in vain if we waited merely for earthly blessings without desiring even more the God who gives the blessings.

Because of our hope in Him, because of His promises, we are confident that whatever our earthly circumstances may be, He will work all things together for our good and His glory. We rest in His sovereignty, and find peace in knowing that the Lord is good to those who wait for Him; to the soul who seeks Him (Lamentations 3:25).

Indeed; none of those who wait for Thee will be ashamed...

Make me know Thy ways, O Lord;

Teach me Thy paths.

Lead me in Thy truth and teach me,

For Thou art the God of my salvation;

For Thee I wait all the day.

--Psalm 25:3a, 4-5

Stepping Out

And so here we stand at the brink of another new year. What is in store for us on this new path, only our Heavenly Father knows. Yes, He knows, for He has lovingly and wisely designed each and every detail, from before the beginning of time.

We do not know what lies ahead of us: this is not for us to know. It is enough to know that He will guide; He carefully reveals every bend in the path at just the right time, giving just enough light for each new step of the way. Sometimes there is no light, and thick darkness enshrouds us-- but it is then, and only then, that we come to know more fully the loving clasp of the Hand that holds... the stong embrace of the Arms that bear.

So put your hand in His, and let us step out-- not tentatively, with fear; but boldly, with the confidence of faith. For although we know not what awaits us in this new year, we do know for certain that He is there. And because of that, I know that whatever we encounter in 2009-- be it joy, sorrow, pleasure, pain, life, or death-- it will be good, for He has planned it all.

"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.'"

--M. L. Haskins