After weeks of weary wintry days, I looked up to see the beauty of soft light filtering through the clouds and then I looked down to see these words on an old calendar… “Great is thy faithfulness!” I subsequently remembered the words of Lamentations 3v22-24… “It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. The Lord is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him.”
Recent days have been dark and depressing for many reasons but I have felt the Lord’s presence with me in some of those darkest hours. This afternoon I also saw a rainbow, its colours strong and vibrant after the rain shower. The birds are singing, buds bursting out of the soil and “I hope in him!” Yet my hope must be in Him whatever the prevailing circumstances. Even if thick black clouds of misfortune drift my way, to whom can I turn but my Lord and my Saviour? “In God is my salvation and my glory: the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God.” (Psalm 62v7)
Strangely, it is as if nature itself has mirrored my life over the past weeks and now with the promise of spring, I see a fresh ray of hope in the improvement of a loved-one’s health – like that rainbow emerging from a brighter sky. I am also reminded of a verse from Thomas Chisholm’s lovely hymn “Great is thy faithfulness…”
“Summer and winter and springtime and harvest,
Sun, moon and stars in their courses above
Join with all nature in manifold witness
To Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love.”
Yet, whatever bleak outlook awaits those who are walking with the Lord in this life, he or she is in a “win win” situation because the future promises joy beyond death itself…
“Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth
Thine own dear Presence to cheer and to guide;
Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,
Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!”
With Job I can say: “For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God:” (Job 19v25&26) May the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ be praised!
Link to this hymn: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/g/r/e/greatitf.htm
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