When we are weak, then are we strong. Our greatest victories will be won as the power of Christ covers our impotence. “When my weakness leaneth on His might, all is right.” May each of us prove the Lord to be the strength of our life! There is the “I will” of sympathy. In His promise of help, God offers to take the heaviest end of our load and to assist us in carrying it. As we are moved with sympathy if we see a child struggling beneath a burden too heavy for it to carry, so the Lord offers Himself as our Helper. And the help we will need and receive will not be some thing but Someone. With boldness we will declare, “The Lord is my helper.” Surely it was this idea of God the Psalmist had when he wrote, “thou art my help.” We can, therefore, greet the New Year with courage, “for no matter what loads may be ours, the heaviest among them will be light indeed to Him for whom nothing is too hard.” He pre sents Himself, then, as a very present Help in trouble, which actually means that He stands ready to un dertake for us in tight places. In fact, the original of Psalm 46:1 im plies that God runs out speedily to meet and help His troubled children. There is the “I will” of support. What a threefold cord this promise holds! “I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.” Surely such a trinity ought to banish all fear and dis may! Strength — Help — Righteous ness. What more could we ask for? If this promise does not produce a happy New Year, then nothing will. Think of it! To be upheld by the hand that formed and upholds the world in its grasp—the hand that is full of righteousness in its dispens ing of rewards and punishments. Why, here is power beyond our ut most thought, and yet at our dis posal. “You know the trysting place,” James <3ilm0ur said to his comrade, "the right-hand side.” In ancient courts, the pleader stood on the right hand, whether he pleaded for or against a person. The Bible presents the right hand as the place of power and the position of highest honor. Thus, the right hand’s upholding us suggests the support of omnipotence. Compare this reference to God’s right hand with another sweet prom ise: “The Lord thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee.” God’s right hand holding our right hand. Hand in hand with God! May this be our constant attitude in the New Year, as its days run their course! Happy New Year in Him! Pas« 7
wilt.” God’s appeal, therefore, is not merely negative. He waits to fortify our mind with His own grace, so that we will not succumb to/any gloom the year may hold. “Fear thou not” ! Fear itself is something to fear. Fear and faith are never good companions. Fear is the child of doubt. Faith is bom of God. Fear ends in failure; faith leads to victory. So to have a year without fear, we must have ever-increasing faith in Him “who is able to do ex ceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think.” Be not dismayed! War breeds de pression, hence, the hopelessness earth’s bloodiest war has given us. We find ourselves in a cheerless world. Multitudes have committed suicide rather than face a future in which they would be slaves ruled by a cruel despot. The enslaved nations are without song. There is a mar ginal,reading to this verse in Isaiah: “Look not around thee.” Men have sad hearts and faces because of what they see as they look around. We frankly confess that the outlook is gloomy. “Change and decay in all around I see.” Our eyes, however, must not be upon our environment. We must not look back, either. If we do, past sins and failures will add to our dismay. Guilty of transgres sion though we were, we must not brood over our sins. If they are un der the blood of Jesus, then let them stay there. To look within is likewise harm ful to our faith. Introspection is likely to make us morbid. Self- examination creates unwarranted re morse. While it is true, as Plato states, that “the unexamined life is not worth having,” the only safe and profitable way for the Christian is the examination of self by the Lord. No, the right way is to look up— not around, or behind, or within, but up to Him who is omnipotent. Look up—God reigns, and over unaccus tomed paths He will lead us into deeper experiences of His love and power! Look up—for amid any storm that may rage He will be at hand to sustain with His peace! Look up— for our salvation is nearer than when we believed. We must look up and thus be ready to go up. His Presence For the two "not”s there are two “I am”s. “I am with thee.” The consciousness of God’s presence pro duces a life without fear. “I am thy God.” The realization of God’s power means a life without dismay. Many precious friendships are ours as we commence another year, but as time rolls by, one here and there will drop out of the journey. Life may become very lonely as the vacant chairs appear. But here is One who
promises never to leave us. Living, loving hands will be forced to re lease their grasp. Christ, however, will never, never let go of us. He declares that He will be with us, not merely near—within call, if needed, but actually with us. In the dark hours that may befall us, He will be there saying, “O heart I made, a heart beats here.” The assurance of His ineffable tenderness and abiding companionship will inspire confi dence and impart comfort. As a very present help in trouble, He will pre serve us from tormenting fears. The billows of grief may dash against our frail craft, but with Christ in the vessel we will smile at the storm. THE BRIDEGROOM COMETH I Irene Haltenhoff "Blessed hope I His Second Coming When the dead in Christ shall rise. Blessed shoutl To send us homing There to meet Him in the skies. "Blessed promise1 Comfort bringing That all sorrows .then shall cease. Blessed trumpet! Glad hearts singing As we find eternal peace." His Power With our hand on the latch of the door of the New Year, we can enter it with boldness, knowing that God’s infinite resources will be at our dis posal. The promise of power is for even the weakest of His saints. “I am thy God.” Yes, your God! "God,” the primary name of Deity, is derived from El, meaning the Strong One, and. Allah, meaning to bind oneself by an oath, so implying faithfulness. The God who declares that He will be with us is the Strong One, who will carry out every promise on our behalf. As needs arise, He will meet them; as enemies appear, He will vanquish them; as clouds gather, He will dispel them. May ours be a great faith in a great God! His Provision It will be noticed that our New Year’s promise contains three “I will”s. Such a triplet of certainty ought to slay all fears. There is the "I will” of strength. We shall not travel far into the New Year without learning that the secret of strength is the consciousness of weakness.
Made with FlippingBook HTML5