2010

For many people 2009 was not a very good year. Many suffered because of illness, family deaths, poor relationships and the economy.

It was not a good year for me. After having a serious car accident in December of 2008, I spent the first four months of 2009 in occupational therapy for a bad hand injury that was not promised a 100% recovery. I confess, I spent a lot of days weeping and worrying that my hand would never be the same. I kept asking the Lord "why" it happened and what purpose it served. Because of the Lord's unchanging faithfulness and His constant hold on me I was able to praise Him for His faithfulness to me in spite of my faithlessness in Him.

I think it is biblical to say we shouldn't look back to the difficult times except to praise the Lord for His work of mercy in our lives. So let us look forward to 2010. Because we are not sovereign we do not know what 2010 will hold for us but we do know who holds 2010. God is faithful to His promises.

I was reading Psalm 103 this week and it gave me great hope as I go into 2010. Hope that focuses on Him and not circumstances. David said we are to bless the Lord and forget not all His benefits. He forgives all your iniquities, heals all your diseases, redeems your life from destruction, crowns you with loving kindness and tender mercies and satisfies your mouth with good things. He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor punished us according to our iniquities. Many times we fall short of His holiness yet He continues to be faithful and He certainly does not give us the punishment we deserve. We deserve nothing but eternal death and separation from Him. "For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward those who fear Him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us (v. 11, 12)." David tells us in verse 17 "the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him, and His righteousness to children's children."
Find comfort in this. His mercies are from everlasting to everlasting - in other words from one year to the next. He is merciful and His righteousness goes to us, our children and our grandchildren.

As we look to 2010 let us mediate on the words of this Psalm. If 2009 has not been a good year for you, be comforted about the future and not worried about the circumstances that will come in 2010. The title for this Psalm is "Praise for the Lord's Mercies." Let this year be a year of praise to Him for all His mercies and benefits to us.