My Times Are In Your Hands
By Gregory John Wilson
December 29, 2019
So today, we near the end of the western calendar year of 2019. So I ask you, do you view the coming year with pleasant anticipation? Or perhaps with uncertainty or loneliness? I hope you are anticipating a good year to come. But if not, I want to offer you the comfort of the Lord. There is a psalm where the author declares, 'My times are in Your hands'. (In the hands of God, that is). That is from psalm 31 verse 15. That should be comforting - God knows the situation you are in and knows the future plans He has for you as well! He can bring you through any trouble you might be experiencing - any lack of peace in your heart, for He is the God of all comfort, says the scripture.
He is intimately acquainted with the paths you take, declares the psalmist in psalm 139. Listen to how the scripture reads:
For the choir director. A Psalm of David. O LORD, You have searched me and known me. You know when I sit down and when I rise up; You understand my thought from afar. You scrutinize my path and my lying down, And are intimately acquainted with all my ways. Even before there is a word on my tongue, Behold, O LORD, You know it all. Psalm 139:1-4 NASB
The psalmist continues later in the psalm:
If I say, "Surely the darkness will overwhelm me, And the light around me will be night," Even the darkness is not dark to You, And the night is as bright as the day. Darkness and light are alike to You. Psalm 139:11-12
So as we walk this path, maybe we fear the darkness will swallow us up, and we will not dwell in light and safety. But the psalmist David chooses to take God's perspective - which is that the darkness does not cause fear or anxiety in Him, but it is merely like the light! So when we take God's perspective, we know He is ruling and reigning just the same at night as in the day - and thus we can rest in Him whether it be daytime or night time. And the same goes with these short winter days with greater darkness. God is still on the throne, and we can rejoice in Him!
Let's read some more of Psalm 139 now:
Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; And in Your book were all written The days that were ordained for me, When as yet there was not one of them. Psalm 139:16
So David speaks of when he was just a baby, and yet God had already written all the days of his life, ordained for him, in His book. So you are walking through this storybook of your life that the Father has planned, and this should bring you comfort - He knows the future and will be with You in your future, orchestrating your life according to His pleasure. Again - our times are in His hands!
And though He knows the plans He has for us, we should also take stock of our lives to see if there is anything that needs adjusted! This is how the above psalm 139 concludes:
Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts; And see if there be any hurtful way in me, And lead me in the everlasting way. Psalm 139:23-24
This has always been a favorite scripture of mine - it is the reality check of the bible, inviting God to turn us away from any wrong way and to lead us on in the way that leads to everlasting life. There is not much more to say!
To conclude, as we consider that our times are in His hands, I want to leave one more tidbit with you. God is the author of time, and he declares various points in time - like when a new year is.. We began talking about the close of the western calendar year of 2019. But did you know, this is not the schedule of the bible? Does it make sense, a new year beginning when everything is dead and cold?
So I would just like to share the first biblical month defined in the Bible is the month of Aviv, when the barley was green - for Aviv means green! And this is… in the Spring when everything comes alive again - March or April depending on the year. So when Spring comes around, remember, Our times are in His hands - every new year, every birthday, every special moment with loved ones.
May God bless you as you trust in Him!
Prayer requests or comments or questions?
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