TODAY WE SHARE WITH YOU SOME THOUGHTS ABOUT ENTERING INTO THE NEW YEAR. REMEMBERING WHO GOD IS, WHAT HE HAS DONE FOR YOU AND WHO YOU ARE IN CHRIST WILL BUILD A CONFIDENCE TO FACE WHATEVER THE NEW YEAR BRINGS AND AN ASSURANCE OF WHO WILL LEAD YOU EVERY DAY. TAKE A MINUTE AND READ THIS POEM, BEGINNING WITH THE PREAMBLE.
GOD KNOWS
AND I SAID TO THE MAN WHO STOOD AT THE GATE OF THE YEAR:
"GIVE ME A LIGHT THAT I MAY TREAD SAFELY INTO THE UNKNOWN."
AND HE REPLIED:
"GO OUT INTO THE DARKNESS AND PUT YOUR HAND IN THE HAND OF GOD. THAT SHALL BE TO YOU BETTER THAN LIGHT AND SAFER THAN A KNOWN WAY."
SO I WENT FORTH, AND FINDING THE HAND OF GOD, TROD GLADLY INTO THE NIGHT. AND HE LED ME TOWARDS THE HILLS AND THE BREAKING OF DAY IN THE LONE EAST.
THE ABOVE WORDS ARE THE PREAMBLE OF A POEM WRITTEN BY MINNIE LOUISE HASKINS (1875-1957). IT WAS PUBLISHED AS A PART OF A COLLECTION OF POEMS TITLED, "THE DESERT", AND THIS POEM WAS NAMED, "GOD KNOWS. "IT WAS LATER POPULARIZED WITH THE NAME, "THE GATE OF THE YEAR, "TAKEN FROM THE FIRST LINE.
THE PREAMBLE OF THIS POEM ROSE TO NATIONAL ATTENTION WHEN PRINCESS ELIZABETH GAVE THE POEM TO HER FATHER, KING GEORGE VI AND HE READ IT DURING HIS RADIO BROADCAST TO THE PEOPLE OF GREAT BRITAIN ON CHRISTMAS EVE 1939. UPON THE DEATH OF KING GEORGE IN 1952, PRINCESS ELIZABETH BECAME QUEEN OF ENGLAND. SHE HAD THE WORDS OF THE POEM ENGRAVED UPON BRASS PLAQUES AND ATTACHED TO THE GATES OF THE KING GEORGE VI MEMORIAL CHAPEL AT WINDSOR CASTLE. INTERRED AT THIS CHAPEL ARE BODIES OF KING GEORGE V1, HIS WIFE QUEEN ELIZABETH (THE QUEEN MOTHER), AND THE ASHES OF THEIR SECOND DAUGHTER PRINCESS MARGARET. WHEN THE QUEEN MOTHER DIED IN 2002, REIGNING QUEEN ELIZABETH HAD THE GATE OF THE YEAR READ AT HER FUNERAL. THE WORDS ARE ALSO INSCRIBED IN A WINDOW AT THE QUEEN'S CHAPEL OF THE SAVOY. ADDITIONALLY, THE WORDS WERE QUOTED IN THE 1940 MGM MOVIE, "THE MORTAL STORM". TAKE A MINUTE AND READ THE ENTIRE POEM.
GOD KNOWS / THE GATE OF THE YEAR
AND I SAID TO THE MAN WHO STOOD AT THE GATE OF THE YEAR:
"GIVE ME A LIGHT THAT I MAY TREAD SAFELY INTO THE UNKNOWN."
AND HE REPLIED:
GO OUT INTO THE DARKNESS AND PUT YOUR HAND INTO THE HAND OF GOD. THAT SHALL BE TO YOU BETTER THAN LIGHT AND SAFER THAN A KNOWN WAY."
SO I WENT FORTH, AND FINDING THE HAND OF GOD, TROD GLADLY INTO THE NIGHT. AND HE LED ME TOWARDS THE HILLS AND THE BREAKING OF DAY IN THE LONE EAST.
SO HEART BE STILL:
WHAT NEED OUR LITTLE LIFE
OUR HUMAN LIFE TO KNOW,
IF GOD HATH COMPREHENSION?
IN ALL THE DIZZY STRIFE
OF THINGS BOTH HIGH AND LOW,
GOD HIDETH HIS INTENTION.
God knows.
His will is best.
THE STRETCH OF YEARS
WHICH WIND AHEAD, SO DIM
TO OUR IMPERFECT VISION,
ARE CLEAR TO GOD. OUR FEARS
ARE PREMATURE; IN HIM,
ALL TIME HATH FULL PROVISION.
THEN REST: UNTIL
GOD MOVES TO LIFT THE VEIL
FROM OUR IMPATIENT EYES,
WHEN, AS THE SWEETER FEATURES
OF LIFE'S STERN FACE WE HAIL,
FAIR BEYOND ALL SURMISE
GOD'S THOUGHT AROUND HIS CREATURES
OUR MIND SHALL FILL.
HOW DO YOU "PUT YOUR HAND INTO THE HAND OF GOD AND LET HIM LEAD YOU THIS YEAR? IT'S NOT BY DOING BETTER, IT'S BY BELIEVING BETTER. UNDERSTAND THE WORDS, "GOD KNOWS. HIS WILL IS BEST."
COMMIT THIS YEAR TO GETTING TO KNOW JESUS BETTER THROUGH READING AND STUDYING HIS WORD. WHEN YOU KNOW HIM BETTER, YOU WILL LOVE HIM EVEN MORE.
COMMIT THIS YEAR TO ENTER INTO DEEPER COMMUNION WITH HIM THROUGH PRAYER. WHEN YOU COMMUNE WITH HIM MORE, YOU WILL FIND GREATER REST IN HIM.
COMMIT THIS YEAR TO REMEMBER ALL THAT HE HAS DONE FOR YOU AND ALL THAT HE HAS GIVEN TO YOU. WHEN YOU REMEMBER JESUS YOUR MIND WILL BE TRANSFORMED AND GOD WILL FAITHFULLY CONFORM YOU MORE AND MORE TO THE IMAGE OF HIS SON.
"OPEN TO ME THE GATES OF RIGHTEOUSNESS: "
"I WILL GO INTO THEM, AND I WILL PRAISE THE LORD: "
"THIS GATE OF THE LORD, INTO WHICH THE RIGHTEOUS SHALL ENTER. "
"I WILL PRAISE THEE: FOR THOU HAST HEARD ME, AND ART BECOME MY SALVATION. "
"(PSALM 118:19-21)"
HAPPY NEW YEAR
FROM REASONS FOR HOPE
Origin: my-spiritual-path.blogspot.com
