To Encourage You

Psalm 121:7-8 “The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life.  The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore.”

One of the greatest blessings of the believer is his or her joyful anticipation of the future.  Isn’t it so often that the fear of the future robs people of joy and fills them with anxiety and dread?  The “what ifs” of life can be like an anchor around our neck, for we don’t know what the future holds and we have little control over it.  “What if I get sick” or “What if I can’t afford to make my mortgage payment” or “What if I lose my job,” etc., etc., can plague one’s thought life. 

So, what’s the remedy?  Is there one?  Well, it certainly doesn’t reside within us, for there is so much in life that we have absolutely no control over.  The Scriptures teach us that the joy and peace of life resides in a person, the Lord Jesus Christ.  The Creator of the universe, Who alone controls all things, including the future, has a whole-hearted, omnipotent, and omniscient commitment to those who have put their trust in Him.  He has promised that he will never leave us nor forsake us (Hebrews 13:5).  He has promised us that absolutely nothing in heaven or earth can separate us from his love (Romans 8:38-39), and he has promised us that he will keep us – all our “going outs and coming ins” both now and forevermore.  What incredible promises these are for those who will but trust in Him. 

The Bible tells us that “the LORD blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning” (Job 42:12).  If you are a believer, you can substitute your name for “Job” in this verse, for the latter days will always be better for the believer, if not in this life, then in the life to come.  Praise God that we serve One Who is sovereign over all things, who Himself is the “Alpha and Omega” the God of “the beginning and the end (Revelation 22:13).”