Christian Counseling & Educational Services

Why is it that when night falls all our problems seem bigger and bolder? Is it because that‘s when we stop the hurrying and rushing and finally have time to think and feel? Or is it because the darkness brings with it a somber insecurity? Whatever the reason, you know what I’m talking about.

Last night I couldn’t sleep. My mind was playing and replaying events from this week, and my heart was anxious over what might transpire next week. I tossed. I turned. Then I remembered the words of the psalmist, “When I remember you on my bed, I meditate on You in the night watches.� So I deliberately turned my thoughts from my busyness and worries and focused on God. This time I didn’t recite His promises as I sometimes do, but rather focused on HIM. I thought about His goodness, His grace, His loving kindness, and His unfailing love.

During Christmas break of my junior year in college, I was visiting a friend in North Carolina for about a week. We had a wonderful time and stayed up late visiting every night. When it came time to travel to my home in Pennsylvania at the end of the week, we were exhausted! So we made an agreement that while one person drove, the other would talk to keep the driver awake; then we would switch. During my “talk time� I read from a book and shared some thoughts about the upcoming semester. Then it was my turn to drive.

Let’s face it, I’m one of those sloppy sentimentalists and anniversary dates are always a big deal for me. This being the second anniversary since our first edition of A Light For My Path went out, I’m thinking back over these two years and rejoicing in what God has done. So will you praise the Lord with me? Will you thank Him for the technology that makes it possible for me to sit in southern Pennsylvania and type out a few paragraphs, and then send them all around the world? Will you praise the Lord for the faithful work of Marc, our webmaster, who sets it all up and does the actual sending and keeping records? Will you rejoice that each week we get wonderful feedback from our readers who express their appreciation for these devotionals?

It was good to see Jackie again. I haven’t seen her in several years so running into her at the store was a delight. Always upbeat and praising the Lord, she brightens any day. We chatted a few moments, catching up on the years, and when she turned to leave, she threw her hand in the air and proclaimed, “Remember, this is the year of new beginnings!� With a wave she was off, leaving me with words of hope that flooded my weary soul.