FROM THE SERVANT GENERAL
OUR THEME FOR 2025
(Part 1)
HOPE WITH EACH NEW DAY
September 26, 2024
Today’s readings:
Ecclesiastes 1:2-11
Psalm 90:3-6,12-14,17
Our theme for 2025 is “Hope Abounds.” In the midst of the great turmoil in the world today, together with darkness and trials that can enter into our lives, we can still be at peace and rejoice, because God is always there, loving us and caring for us. In the face of great evil in the world, we need never fear, for God is with us.
But for many today, with their struggles and woes, they feel hopeless and helpless. Can they really look forward to something new, to some respite? Or in their frustration and hopelessness, they may just say, “All things are vanity! …. All things are wearisome, too wearisome for words.” (Eccl 1:2b,8a).
So they trudge through each day, just seeking to survive. The night might not even give them their needed rest. And they dread facing a new day.
But Christians should always have hope, for they have a loving God to turn to. They can cry out to God, “Have pity on your servants!” (Ps 90:13b). Moses, who had his share of great trials, put his confidence in God and prayed, “Fill us at daybreak with your mercy, that all our days we may sing for joy.” (Ps 90:14).
Each new day is a gift from God. Each new day we wake and look to God’s mercy and grace. Each new day is an opportunity to experience God’s faithful love. God is able to turn the darkness into light. Even as we face dire circumstances in life, each new day is a new beginning. We can trust and hope in a merciful God.
So we look to each new day with great anticipation and joy. As we pray at daybreak, we confidently say, “May the favor of the Lord our God be ours.” (Ps 90:17a). And even if our trials persist, we trust in God’s wisdom and His using these to continue to form and mold us into His image and likeness. “Teach us to count our days aright, that we may gain wisdom of heart.” (Ps 90:12).
Hope indeed abounds.
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