2017 - an untried year.
I know little about what is ahead but I know this much:
We are hemmed in! His hand is on us:
You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways…
You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me.”
~ Psalm 139: 3, 5 - ESV
What looks uncertain to us IS certain to God:
"It is the Lord who goes before you.
He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you.
Do not fear or be dismayed.
~ Deuteronomy 31:8 - ESV
My times are His:
But I trust in you, O Lord; I say, 'You are my God; My times are in your hand.’
~ Psalm 31:14-15a
Elizabeth Payson Prentiss wrote this poem for a friend in 1843. It was true then - it’s true now! Timeless.
With mingling hope and trust and fear
I bid thee welcome, untried year;
The paths before me pause to view;
Which shall I run and which pursue?
I read my fate with serious eye;
I see dear hopes and treasures fly,
Behold thee on thy opening wing
Now grief, now joy, now sorrow bring.
God grant me grace my course to run
With one blest prayer — His will be done.
- source: George Lewis Prentiss.
More Love to Thee - The Life & Letters of Elizabeth Prentiss. (Amityville: Calvary Press, 1994) 76.
So I say:
WELCOME, 2017! God has me.