God is Our Security

You shall not go out in haste…for the Lord will go before you, and the God of Israel will be your rear guard.

Isaiah 52:12

As the new year takes hold, we are often riddled with thoughts of regret and missed opportunities. We want to do better in the coming days, weeks, and months. Don’t we?

God is always present with us

Of course we do! And the promise of new beginnings is always something hopeful as we enter into a brand new year. Yet, God our ever-unchanging Heavenly Father, wants us to embrace the lessons we have learned from our past mistakes and regrets. He wants us to step into each new day with a fresh awareness that He is Lord of all. God is in our past. God is in our present. God is in our future.

In Oswald Chambers classic devotional, My Utmost for His Highest, God says this about our past. “Our present enjoyment of God’s grace tends to be lessened by the memory of yesterday’s sins and blunders. but God is the God of our yesterdays, and he allows the memory of them to turn the past into a ministry of spiritual growth for our future. God reminds us of the past to protect us from a very shallow security in the present.”  Amen to this wonderful reminder that God uses our past failings as lessons not to repeat in the future.

God uses our past mistakes for our good

Just as important is God’s offering of security for all of our tomorrows. Chambers writes, “‘The Lord will go before you…This is a gracious revelation – that God will send His forces out where we have failed to do so. He will keep watch so that we will not be tripped up again by the same failures, as would undoubtedly happen if He were not our “rear guard’.”  Here again, we see God’s intentional overseeing care of our lives.

We can rest in the sweet embrace of Christ

Finally, we can rest in His perfect love for us today. “Our yesterdays hold broken and irreversible things for us. It is true that we have lost opportunities that will never return, but God can transform this destructive anxiety into a constructive thoughtfulness for the future. Let the past rest, but let it rest in the sweet embrace of Christ. Leave the broken, irreversible past in His hands, and step out into the invincible future with Him.”

Our security is in God alone

Our security will never be found in our gifts, talents, and abilities to conquer, overcome, or achieve. Rather, the only security and rest we can bank on will come from God. Past. Present. Future. It’s all held securely in His faithful grip. Let us rejoice and be glad of this timeless truth.

Questions for Personal Reflection:

1. Today take time to prayerfully reflect upon the past year. Consider both what you believe have been failures and successes. Then thank God for all that has transpired knowing that He will use even your regrets to mature and grow you into an image bearer of Jesus Christ.
2. Spend some moments praying about what you are facing today (this week…this month). Pray and ask God to give you all that you need to fulfill His purposes for you in the coming days. Ask specifically for a stronger faith and a grace-infused resilience to meet your challenges one day at a time through the strength He promises to supply.
3. As you look ahead to the coming months, praise God for His promise to be your security, your strength, your hope. Journal specific promises to help remind you of His promise to be a present help in every situation.