IN HIS HANDS

I'm a little late in getting out today's WEEKLY MESSAGE due to some house cleaning chores being tackled this morning. Now before husbands start groaning and wives get to telling husbands, "See, he does it!" you need to know this kind of cleaning is done to avoid spending. Our house is about 25 years old and we've never redecorated the main floor interior. We like it pretty much the way it is, so to avoid the cost of papering, painting, etc, I purposefully give it an annual housecleaning - walls, windows, floors, etc. That's why I'm late today; enough said!

But at least I spread it over a day or two rather than do it all in one day like I used to. It's a basic human trait to take things to an extreme. If a little is good, we think more must be better. If soon is good, quicker must be better. But often we find this leads to doing things wrong. I recall once in haste tossing out a boxful of items that I had to replace for a few hundred dollars. Or getting that day what I could have gotten at half price the next day.

We are encouraged these days to plan ahead, and that only by careful planning can we maximize the best use of our time or resources. But we seldom know all that is coming. We wake up with a list of important things to do and have an auto accident on the way to work. We carefully work out a schedule for the day, then break our ankle walking down some steps. It reminds me of a good poem I read recently. It's called:

"IN HIS HANDS," (by Betty Purser Patten)
We know not what tomorrow brings Although we plan ahead,
For only God alone can know The pathway we must tread.

We cannot know the future, Not one minute nor one hour;
Each circumstance that we must face Lay only in His power.

It's vital that we live by faith From minute unto minute,
And trusting that each step we take He's walking with us in it.

We cannot see the future, Nor the trials we must face;
But in all things, God promised us Sufficiency of grace.

This alone should give us hope, Whatever be our plans,
In knowing that our future lies In His great, loving hands.

The Apostle James (Jesus' half brother) once wrote, "Now listen, you who say, 'Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.' Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, 'If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that'.” (James 4:13-15) Enough said there, too!

I probably should get back to house cleaning. The rest of today and all our tomorrows are truly "In His Hands." May each of us find time to give Him thanks they are.

"DAILY WALK WITH JESUS", my Amazon Kindle book is available at:
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