The LORD shall preserve your going out and your coming in from now and for evermore.

— Psalm 121:8

As we come to the close of another year, we see that the Lord has been with us. He has watched over and protected us. Yes, there has been trouble and pain, but He has been with us every step of the way.

The Lord is the One who helps us through it all. As the psalmist said, “I will lift up my eyes to the hills, from where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth (Psalm 121:1-2).

In all the hurry and hustle and bustle of modern life, we need to give God time to heal us and cure us, to build us up and strengthen us in Him. We need to trust in Christ and find that place of quiet rest. As one poet put it:

Slow me down Lord.
Ease the pounding of my heart by the quieting of my mind.
Steady my hurried pace with a vision of the eternal reach of time.
Give me, amid the confusion of the day, the calmness of the everlasting hills.
Break the tensions of my nerves and muscles with the soothing music of the singing streams that live in my memory…
Let me look upward to the towering oak and know that it grew great and strong because it grew slowly and well.

Question to ponder:
How have you grown in the Lord this year?