As we come to the close of 2015 and welcome in 2016
there can be both hope and apprehension about what is to come. We don't know what will happen in each of our lives in the coming year, but we know our God. In a world that is ever changing, He is faithful and true.
Listen to this majestic picture of God in Job 26:14. "These are but the outer fringe of his works; how faint the whisper we hear of him! Who then can understand the thunder of his power?" And 1 Peter 1:8. "Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy."
Be blessed to rest softly in the hands of your Father when you don't understand what He's doing. Look for Him with your surrendered heart to when He's not doing what you wanted or expected. Every season has its beauty and is preparation for the next season. In this time of the hiding of His power, take faithful steps of faith and obedience, faith and obedience. Beyond obedience, even when you don't see Him, be blessed to love Him with glorious inexpressible joy.
Be blessed with eyes to see the fingerprints of His ways in your ordinary days, knowing that He says, "My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts" (Isa 55:8-9).
When you know you don't understand and when you think you do, the earth keeps shouting to you that He is completely faithful. He is as faithful as the rain and snow that water the earth and make it bud and flourish and yield seed for the sower and bread for the eater. That's the law of the harvest. He promises that His word to you is like that. "It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it" (Isa 55:10-11).
As you see seedtime and harvest yield its return every year, come into His courts with praise that you will reap a spiritual harvest as you sow in faith and joy. Worship leads you to rest and trust in His faithfulness, His sovereignty, and His love. Be blessed to see that God is there, increasing your knowledge and experience of Himself. With each place He takes you in those sometimes not-your-first-choice circumstances, He draws you deeper into Himself.
Even when you see only the edges of His ways, hear only His small whispers, and cannot understand Him, He is the best. He promises that "you will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands" (Isa 55:12). You can celebrate Him in the growth points of your journey, even in His faintest whispers. Remember Elijah. God was not in the violent wind, or the fire, or the earthquake, but in the gentle blowing of the still small voice. Be blessed to line up with His still small voice. Be blessed with an "upgrade" of your image of God, because what you think about Him, who He is to you, is the single most important element in trusting Him (Col 1:9-13).
Be blessed in the name of the King of the kingdom
He promised to those who love Him (James 2:5).
