1231 昨日
你们出来必不至急忙，也不至奔逃。因为耶和华必在你们前头行。以色列的神必作你们的后盾。《以赛亚书52:12》
昨日的安全感。「…神使已过的事重新再来。」（传道书 3:15）。在年末时，我们怀着急切的心期待神为我们预备的未来；然而，当我们回想过去时，焦虑往往随之而来。我们现在享受神恩典的喜乐，常常会因记起昨天的罪和错误而有所减少，祂允许我们对过去的记忆，要将这些记忆转化，为我们未来属灵成长而效力。神提醒我们过去的事，是为了保护我们免于现今肤浅的安全感。
明日的安全感。「…耶和华必在你们前头行…」这是一个恩典的启示——神会差遣祂的力量，去做我们未能做到之事。祂将持续看顾，以至于我们不会再因同样的失败而绊倒，而如果祂不是我们的「后盾」，我们无疑就会重蹈覆辙。神的手会伸向过去，除去所有违背我们良心的指控。
今日的安全感。「你们出来必不至急忙…」当我们迈向即将到来新的一年时，愿我们不要怀着急躁和健忘的喜欢前行，也不要草率和缺乏深思的冲动而急于行动。但让我们带着耐心的力量出去，因为我们知道以色列的神在我们前头行。我们的昨天为我们带来了破碎和不可逆转的事物。的确，我们失去了那些无法重新来过的机会，但神能将这种破坏性的焦虑转化为对未来建设性的思考。让过去安息，但让它安息在基督的甜蜜怀抱中。
把破碎、不可逆转的过去交在祂手中，与祂一起迈向无敌的未来。
来自章伯斯的智慧
我们不是要宣扬行善。善行不是被宣讲的，而是要被实践的。《故我差遣你》
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 yesterday’s 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
We are not to preach the doing of good things; good deeds are not to be preached, they are to be performed. —So Send I You