From the Pastor’s Desk
A New Year's Message
“So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today.” –Matthew 6:34
A new year has arrived and with it comes . . . well, we don’t really know do we? We can make bold predictions. The Pirates will win the pennant! Peace will spring in the Ukraine! The United Methodist Church will come to its senses and start a revival that will sweep across the globe!
Bold predictions, but, sadly, unlikely. The truth is none of us know what tomorrow will hold. Looking back on the year past, I would never have believed that Bev would be fighting cancer, or that a war would be started by Russia against Ukraine, or that the United Methodist Church would see such a massive disaffiliation happen in Western Pennsylvania.
All morning today I have had a hymn stuck in my head. “I Know Who Holds Tomorrow” by Ira F. Stanphill. He wrote:
I don’t know about tomorrow,
I just live from day to day.
I don’t borrow from its sunshine,
For its skies may turn to gray.
I don’t worry o’er the future,
For I know what Jesus said,
And today I’ll walk beside Him,
For He knows what is ahead.
The hymn emphasizes what Jesus said on the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew, “So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own.” You and I have no real control over tomorrow, life happens to all of us while we’re trying to make plans for the future. Your life may change in an instant with a phone call of a death or serious illness. You may lose a job or have an accident and the next thing you know is that your life is on a different trajectory. It could go the other way too, and investment may lead to a landfall of money, or you may get a promotion or the news that your illness is cured. And life will blossom new and beautiful.
But, whatever life has in store for our tomorrows, we as believers know the our Lord Jesus Christ is with us. He will hold you up in your grief, give you strength in the battle with your illness, provide hope for a better tomorrow, and dance with you in life’s victories. He sees you, He loves you, and your future is secure in his love for you. As Stanphill wrote in the chorus to his hymn:
Many things about tomorrow,
I don’t seem to understand;
But I know Who holds tomorrow,
And I know Who holds my hand.
Blessings and I’ll see you Sunday,
Pastor Steve
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