A new year

One thing you can be certain about in the coming year is that you can’t be certain about what is ahead. This is a great blessing, because you do not need to know. To know what is ahead and the details of what will happen would be too great a burden to carry and too great a responsibility to bear.    - - Roy Lessin

As I reflect on 2011, the word joy appears over and over.  But as I ponder what lies ahead in 2012, the theme of God as a refuge, a rock, a fortress keeps coming up, and to be honest, it scares me.  I found myself jotting a note in my journal asking Him to help me beat back the dark cloud (of discouragement and heart heaviness), but as I did, He opened my eyes.  He is a REFUGE.  One in whom to seek shelter from the storm as it rages overhead until it passes.

The dark WILL come   . . . but the morning brings light.

Sing to the LORD, you saints of his; praise his holy name.  For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime; weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning. Psalm 30: 4-5

In the midst of the worries over things to come, I find a verse repeated, pointing me back to the one who is stronger than any trial:

For thou art my rock and my fortress, therefore for thy name's sake lead me,  and guide me. Psalm 31:3


I find great comfort in the reminder that knowing what is ahead would be "too great a burden to carry and too great a responsibility to bear", even if that knowledge were of the good that is ahead.  But I am humbled to think of our Savior who approached the end of His earthly days with precisely that knowledge, that burden, and that responsibility . . .

And I cling to the promise that the storm doesn't last forever:

You turned my wailing into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy, that my heart may sing to you and not be silent.  O LORD  my God, I will give you thanks forever.  Psalm 30:12

Here's to my rock, my refuge, my stronghold, my fortress . . . my God in all.