For the coming year please accept two wishes from my family: one is for how you look back and one is for how you look forward.
1. Our first wish is for how you look back—
The Israelites once had a particularly rough year, one so difficult that they all had to cross the Red Sea just to save their lives. A godly man named Asaph wanted to know where God was during that time. This was Asaph’s answer to his own question: “Your path led through the sea, your way through the mighty waters, though your footprints were not seen” (Psa. 77:19).
Looking back, wicked men and women don’t even bother to ask where God is (Jer. 2:6), but godly men and women do.
In 2013 may you look back and recognize how the Lord led you through the sea of 2012, though God’s footprints were not seen.
2. Our second wish is for how you look forward—
The psalmist said, “Then I thought, ‘To this I will appeal: the years of the right hand of the Most High’ (Psa. 77:10).”
Martin Luther, the great protestant reformer, understood this verse to mean that God’s dealing in the past shows that “The right hand of the Most High can change everything.”
In 2013 may you also look ahead and trust that God will lead you through the mighty waters to come, even though you may not see his footprints; may you sail through the living water of the entire Bible to better think the thoughts of God; may you speak the words of God; may you carry out the works of God, and may you remember God’s promise that if you seek him you will find him if you seek him with all your heart.
Happy New Year!
Toby and Cynthia, with Acacia, Tolly, Lena, Clare, and Ethan
