You alone are the Lord; You have made heaven, The heaven of heavens, with all their host, The earth and everything on it, The seas and all that is in them, And You preserve them all. The host of heaven worships You. “You are the Lord God, Who chose Abram, And brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans, And gave him the name Abraham; You found his heart faithful before You, And made a covenant with him To give the land of the Canaanites, The Hittites, the Amorites, The Perizzites, the Jebusites, And the Girgashites To give it to his descendants. You have performed Your words, For You are righteous. “You saw the affliction of our fathers in Egypt, And heard their cry by the Red Sea. You showed signs and wonders against Pharaoh, Against all his servants, And against all the people of his land. For You knew that they acted proudly against them. So You made a name for Yourself, as it is this day. And You divided the sea before them, So that they went through the midst of the sea on the dry land; And their persecutors You threw into the deep, As a stone into the mighty waters. Moreover You led them by day with a cloudy pillar, And by night with a pillar of fire, To give them light on the road Which they should travel. “You came down also on Mount Sinai, And spoke with them from heaven, And gave them just ordinances and true laws, Good statutes and commandments. You made known to them Your holy Sabbath, And commanded them precepts, statutes and laws, By the hand of Moses Your servant. You gave them bread from heaven for their hunger, And brought them water out of the rock for their thirst, And told them to go in to possess the land Which You had sworn to give them. Nehemiah 9:6-15 (NKJV)
It seems like we just go from one problem to another as we travel through life. As we look forward it can be real easy to be discouraged and depressed over life situations. Life can be so overwhelming many times that it leaves us hopeless. Tomorrow is uncertain, that much we know, but at the same time we know yesterday is history. This passage in Nehemiah recounts times where God had provided and protected His people. The people were about to sign a document that symbolized a new covenant with God. As they were looking forward to this covenant they looked back with praise. They were reminded where God had brought them from and I believe that this must have brought comfort and boldness for the future. Look back in your life at those time where you have to acknowledge that God showed up for you... If he was there then, our unchanging God will be there tomorrow. I would like to warn you that looking at the past gives us an opportunity to keep things the way they used to be in the "good old days". This is NOT what I am encouraging. We need to look back with praise so we can look forward with boldness. Remembering what God has done for us in uncertain times will give us strength and boldness for the uncertain times to come. God has instructed us not to worry, but this is a hard concept to follow through on. I want to encourage you to make this phrase your statement of faith... I don't know what tomorrow holds, but I do know who holds tomorrow.
brill, loved it!
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