1231 昨天
你們出來必不至急忙，也不至奔逃。因為，耶和華必在你們前頭行；以色列的神必作你們的後盾。《以賽亞書 52:12》
過去的安全感。「……神使已過的事重新再來。」（傳道書3:15）。在年末，我們熱切渴望轉向神要給我們的種種未來。然而當我們想起過去種種時，焦慮就很容易湧上心頭。我們現今在神恩典中的喜樂，容易會因記起過去的罪和重大過錯而減弱。但上帝是我們過去的神，祂允許這些記憶為我們未來靈命成長而效力。神提醒我們過去的事情，是要保護我們免於現今膚淺的安全感。
未來的安全感。「……神會在你的前頭行……」這是一個恩慈的啟示——神將差遣祂的天軍在我們失敗之處幫助我們。祂將持續看顧我們，使我們不會被同樣的失敗絆倒，如果祂不是我們的「後盾」，那無疑就會再發生。但神的手伸向我們的過去，解決了所有控訴我們良心的聲稱。
現今的安全感。「你們必不急忙而出……」當我們踏入新的一年，讓我們不要在急躁健忘的快樂中，也不要在輕率衝動中匆忙往前；但讓我們以堅忍的力量出發，知道以色列的神將在我們前面走。我們昨天破碎和不可逆轉的事情，確實已經失去再迴轉的機會，但上帝可以將這種破壞性的焦慮轉化為對未來的建設性思考。讓過去安息吧，讓它安息在基督甜蜜的懷抱中。
把破碎、不可逆轉的過去交到祂手中，與祂一同踏入無敵的未來。
來自章伯斯的智慧
一個人做了什麼並不重要，最重要的是在作為中的所是。一個人所產生的氛圍比他所作的更具有持久的影響力。《困惑如何更好地戰鬥》。
1231 Yesterday
You shall not go out with haste,…for the Lord will go before you, and the God of Israel will be your rear guard. —Isaiah 52:12
Security from Yesterday. “…God requires an account of what is past” (Ecclesiastes 3:15). At the end of the year we turn with eagerness to all that God has for the future, and yet anxiety is apt to arise when we remember our yesterdays. Our present enjoyment of God’s grace tends to be lessened by the memory of yesterday’s sins and blunders. But God is the God of our yesterdays, and He allows the memory of them to turn the past into a ministry of spiritual growth for our future. God reminds us of the past to protect us from a very shallow security in the present.
Security for Tomorrow. “…the Lord will go before you….” This is a gracious revelation— that God will send His forces out where we have failed to do so. He will keep watch so that we will not be tripped up again by the same failures, as would undoubtedly happen if He were not our “rear guard.” And God’s hand reaches back to the past, settling all the claims against our conscience.
Security for Today. “You shall not go out with haste….” 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.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
It is not what a man does that is of final importance, but what he is in what he does. The atmosphere produced by a man, much more than his activities, has the lasting influence. Baffled to Fight Better, 51 L
（英文版取自：https://utmost.org)