The Lord will go before you, and the God of Israel will be the finisher of your ranks (Isaiah 52:12)
On New Year's Eve in 1916, Oswald Chambers preached at a British Commonwealth prayer meeting for soldiers in Cairo, Egypt. Standing before an audience whose lives were turned upside down by World War I, the pastor spoke to them about the past and tomorrow.
Chambers said, "Each end of the year we are so excited to welcome God's plans for the future, but if we remember the past we also become anxious. The joy of God's grace that we should enjoy is replaced by memories of the past full of sins and mistakes. But God is also God from the past that allows us to remember it so that the past can be transformed into spiritual growth in the future. God reminds us of the past so that we don't feel insecure about the future.. Let the past pass, just leave it to Christ. Leave time then irreparable into His hands, and step with Him into the inevitable future" ("My Utmost For His Highest").
God promised the Israelites, "The Lord will go before you, and the God of Israel will be the finisher of your ranks" (Isaiah 52:12). We can also take comfort in knowing that our God will never forsake or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5).
With the start of this new year, we can put ourselves, with all our past and future, safe in His hands -DCM
* Take from Daily Reflection