At our first service of the year at Cherry Tree Court, Garry spoke about walking into the unknown hand in hand with God. Weather forecasters try to give us an idea of what the weather will be like – 10 days ago, the BBC weather service said it would be bright and sunny today (not happening so far!) and even yesterday gave the temperature for this morning at 8 degrees (rather optimistic!) It’s notoriously difficult, even with modern technology, to predict the weather, and this lack of certainty about the future can often cause us problems, for we like to know what lies ahead and plan accordingly.
In 1939, King George VI, when facing the uncertainty of the 2nd World War, quoted from a poem by Minnie Louise Haskins:
‘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.’
Ultimately, we live in a world of uncertainty, but God calls us to trust Him in every situation. Ignoring the change and uncertainty won’t stop reality from hitting us, nor can we plan for everything (see James 4:13-14). However, we can put our hand in God’s hand, secure that we have His double grip of safety (John 10:28-29). As Stuart Townend puts it, ‘no power of hell, no scheme of man/ Can ever pluck me from His hand.’ (‘In Christ Alone’) We are safe in God’s hands!
