As we go forth into the coming year, let it not be in the haste of impetuous, forgetful delight, nor with the quickness of impulsive thoughtlessness. But let us go out with the patient power of knowing that the God of Israel will go before us. Our yesterdays hold broken and irreversible things for us. It is true that we have lost opportunities that will never return, but God can transform this destructive anxiety into a constructive thoughtfulness for the future. Let the past rest, but let it rest in the sweet embrace of Christ.
Leave the broken, irreversible past in His hands, and step out into the invincible future with Him.
– Oswald Chambers, “December 31: ‘Yesterday’” in My Utmost for His Highest
Chambers’ entire entry for today is brilliantly true, for God is the God of all time, a God who can be trusted with what was, what is, and what is to come. In Chambers’ words, God offers “Security from Yesterday,” “Security for Tomorrow,” and “Security for Today.” We need not be shackled by the sins, mistakes, and failures of our past, we need not be overcome with worries about our future, and we can be assured that we will find grace enough for today.
Hebrews 13:8 says, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever,” and Revelation 1:8 declares, “‘I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End,’ says the Lord, ‘who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.'” God is God over all time and has acted in time, thus, I can trust God with my time, you can trust God with your time, and we can trust God with our time. Time, after all, is a gift, and we have been given time enough for love by God, love eternal.
So as you make resolutions, if you do so, or as you look to the year ahead, let go of the past, release anxieties about the future, and rest in grace for today. Then, with patient power, step out. God goes before you, God stands behind you, and God walks with you.
