Look Back

Sarah Habben

Tick. Tock. There are more than 30 million seconds in a year. How many of those 30 million moments of the year do you still cherish? How many do you wish you could undo? How many have simply pulled away from the curb of memory like a string of indifferent taxis?

Tick. Tock. Soon the new year will ease into the station. We don’t know what she carries, but we know her carriages are full. Contentment. Anxiety. Joy. Pain. Failure. Triumph. Birth. Death.

Are you ready?

You will be, if you stand on the platform of Psalm 77:11 “I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago.”

Asaph, the psalmist, had his eyes fixed on a far more distant horizon than the year gone by. He had been feeling snubbed by God. Despair kept him awake at night. But then he recalled his Sunday school lessons, “The miracles of long ago”. The God who had “forgotten” Asaph was the same God who had split the Red Sea to lead his flock from slavery, who had fed and clothed them in the desert of their lives. Asaph needed hope for tomorrow. So he turned around and locked his eyes on the past.

As you head into the new year, remember this miracle of long ago: God gave his Son for you. You are no longer a slave to sin. Your misspent moments are forgiven. The Promised Land of heaven awaits.

Look back. And head into the future with hope.

Devotion used by permission of Time of Grace®. For more information, visit timeofgrace.org