Isaiah was addressing the Israelites who returned to Jerusalem to find the city in ruins. The temple was gone and the city walls were destroyed. The economic condition was really bad. Isaiah’s words were a positive and encouraging prophecy to a people who were disheartened and devastated by the state of the land they returned to. He encouraged the people at that time to trust in the Lord so that everything would be all right. “The Lord will arise upon you and His glory will appear over you.”


This is a timely reading to start us off in the New Year. It is a message of hope and encouragement — especially during times like these.


When we look at the world today, events are taking place which are a source of concern for us. Once again, Christians are being persecuted and so many countries are facing wars and civil and political turmoil. More importantly, materialism and consumerism seem to govern our society, overtaking the sense of morality and values that were once so important.


But let us not be disheartened. God is with us — He has never left us. Though we experience hardships and challenges, He is always there to lift us up, to hold our hands in times of extreme difficulty. There is nothing that we cannot handle when we call on Him for help. When what we are doing is in obedience to God’s Word, you can be sure that He will be there to lend us a helping hand, to support us in the task that we are trying to accomplish.


When we look around us, we see evidence of God being with us. We marvel at the beauty of nature, we listen to the singing of the birds, we see evidence of man’s intelligence in the modern structures and inventions around us. God is indeed with us. He provides for us! 


When I believe that God is with me, there is no reason for me to be sad, or angry or afraid. He is there for me! I cannot go around feeling defeated for I am being supported by my God who loves me! So whenever I face a challenge, I am still able to smile and be happy because that difficult stuff? My God will take care of that for me! Believe me, it works! Sometimes we just need to relinquish our control over the things we cannot handle anyway — we just need to stop worrying. Worrying will just prevent us from enjoying the gifts that God has given us today!



​Liz Venezuela

God had a plan. The crucifixion was no accident. If the death of Christ was enough, then Jesus could have died at the hand of Herod’s men, like the many other children who were slain because of his petty fear. The story of God’s pursuing, abundant, overwhelming love needed to be told. He needed to speak to the hearts of the broken, heal the sick, and challenge the mighty. To accomplish that, He needed to live to manhood. So, God sent Joseph and the angel to direct them to go to Egypt. To lay low. To wait and grow and prepare.


Our life on earth has moments like that. I know God’s will for me is that I reach the Heavenly Kingdom, but I also have evidence that He has work for me to accomplish in the days between now and then. On my 16th birthday I was struck by a car in a crosswalk. After a few hours in the hospital for observation, I walked away with a concussion and a broken tooth. The paramedics and police told my parents it was a miracle I survived. I had rolled and moved in the exact right way to save my life and not sustain major injuries.


I’m sure each of us has a moment like that when we were protected or even just held back to wait for the right time. If the entirety of God’s power can lay quietly tucked away in Egypt, then I can be patient with God’s plan. There are times I am fired up to race forward on a project or plan, but God gives me all sorts of signs that I need to wait for His timing. Whenever I push forward, my plans are frustrated and sometimes even backfire entirely. When I wait, often the results are bigger and better than I had planned.

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But the time that God calls me to wait isn’t just me sitting around eating snickerdoodles. No doubt, Jesus’ time in Egypt wasn’t wasted as He was growing and learning, so I have no excuse for twiddling my thumbs waiting. The extra time God gives us is to prepare us. We don’t have the privilege to waste the time given us. We are called to listen to God’s voice through prayer, discernment, and the Scriptures and also through whatever practical work we can do to prepare for our mission. You can’t run a race without time to prepare your body and mind. Why would our Heavenly mission be any different? I thank God for all the times he’s asked me to fall back and wait. I have been more ready, prepared and capable for the next stage when I remember the time He gives me has meaning and is set aside for Him.



Stephanie Potter

Fear is not always a bad thing. 


When I was quite young, my family and I were at our favourite fajita restaurant. The restaurant was full of steaming hot skillets and piping hot plates, and I was a curious kid (but mostly, I was stubborn). When our skillet of veggies and chicken, which had just come out of the oven, came to our table one night, I heard the reminder I had heard during every other visit at that restaurant: “Megan don’t touch the skillet, it’s very hot”. But that night, I had decided that I would take it upon myself to see if the skillet was in fact too hot. I was always told how hot the skillet was, but what was the harm in investigating? I reached out my little index finger to touch it out of stubbornness, and I was met with a sharp pain followed by a blister on the tip of my finger from touching the skillet that I was told over and over by my mother not to touch. 


Now, as a 20 year old, every time I get a hot plate of food or a steaming tea, I wait until I am sure that it has cooled down enough for me to touch it. I learned my lesson after the fajita incident. I now have a fear of being burned by hot food. And this fear definitely helps me. Most of the time, fear is a feeling we have instilled in us in order to deter us from doing things that will harm and hurt us. My mother didn’t want me to get hurt, so she tried to help me to develop the fear without having to experience the pain. This is what God tries to do for us. He wants us to steer clear of the bad things that will harm us. He doesn’t want us to have to experience the hurt in order for us to learn that lesson, but sometimes we are stubborn. Sometimes after we take over the control and do our own investigating, we learn our lesson, but with consequences. 


When I was first learning about faith, the phrase “Blessed are those who fear the Lord” really confused me. Doesn’t God love us? Why would He want us to fear Him? Well, God wants us to have fear because He loves us. We need fear to help us to stay away from the bad. A parent wants to help you fear those bad things to keep you from the hurts in life. This fear is not to decrease our quality of life, but to give us fullness of life. We fear disappointing our parents. We want to please them and make them happy. It is a good fear that helps us to grow closer to God, to respect Him, and to love God like the Father that He is. I pray that I may have these experiences so that I can trust in God to guide me. Amen. ​



Megan Noye