Thoughts of Grace

The land whither ye go to possess it is a land of hills and valleys
and drinketh water of the rain of heaven;
a land which the Lord thy God careth
for: the eyes of the Lord are always upon it
from the beginning of the year even to the end of the year.
Deuteronomy 11:11-12

Today, dear friends, we stand upon the verge of the unknown.
There lies before us the new year (new season)
and we are going forth to possess it.
Who can tell what we shall find?
What new experiences,
what changes shall come,
what new needs shall arise?
But here is the cheering,
comforting,
gladdening message from our Heavenly Father,
The Lord thy God careth for it.”
“His eyes are upon it away to the ending of the year.””

All our supply is to come from the Lord.
Here are springs that shall never dry;
here are fountains and streams that shall never be cut off.
Here anxious one,
is the gracious pledge of the Heavenly Father.
If He be the Source of our mercies
they can never fail us.
No heat, no drought (no virus) can parch that river,
“the streams whereof make glad the city of God.”

The land is a land of hills and valleys.
It is not all smooth nor all down hill.
If life were all one dead level
the dull sameness would oppress us;
we want the hills and the valleys.
The hills collect the rain
for a hundred fruitful valleys.
Ah, so it is with us!
It is the hill difficulty
that drives us to the throne of grace
and brings down the shower of blessing;
the hills, the bleak hills of life
that we wonder at
and perhaps grumble at,
bring down the showers.
How many have perished in the wilderness,
buried under its golden sands,
who would have lived
and thriven in the hill-country;
how many would have been killed by the frost,
blighted with winds,
swept desolate of tree and fruit
but for the hill- stern, hard, rugged,
so steep to climb.
God’s hills are a gracious protection
for His people against their foes!

We cannot tell what loss and sorrow and trial are doing.
Trust only.
The Father comes near to take our hand
and lead us on our way today.
It shall be a good, a blessed new year!

He leads us on by paths we did not know;
Upward He leads us, though our steps be slow,
Though oft we faint and falter on the way,
Though storms and darkness oft obscure the day;
Yet when the clouds are gone,
We know He leads us on.
He leads us on through all the unquiet years;
Past all our dreamland hopes, and doubts and fears,
He guides our steps, through all the tangled maze
Of losses, sorrows, and o’er clouded days;
We know His will is done;
And still He leads us on.
–Nicholaus Ludwig Zinzendorf