Undaunted

Undaunted

The LORD passed in front of Moses, calling out, “Yahweh! The LORD! The God of compassion and mercy! I am slow to anger and filled with unfailing love and faithfulness.”

Exodus 34:6

Three months after France and Great Britain declared war on Germany, on Christmas Day 1939, King George VI broadcast an address to the nation. By this time, Austria, Czechoslovakia, and Poland had already fallen to the overwhelming power of the Nazis.

Rallying people amid the gathering darkness, the king concluded his speech with these words:

A new year is at hand. We cannot tell what it will bring. If it brings peace, how thankful we shall all be. If it brings us continued struggle, we shall remain undaunted. In the meantime I feel that we may all find a message of encouragement in the lines which, in my closing words, I would like to say to you:

I said to the man who stood at the Gate of the Year: “Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown.”

And he replied: “Go out into the darkness, and put your hand into the Hand of God. That shall be to you better than light, and safer than a known way.”

Then the king said, “May the Almighty Hand guide and uphold us all.” It would be another six years of war before peace was finally restored.

As George VI told his people, none of us know what the new year will bring. If it brings safety, healing, prosperity, wholeness, and joy, we will praise and thank the Lord. But if it brings continued struggles, we will remain undaunted, not because we are strong or have it in our own power to remain faithful, but because our God is strong and more than able to keep us in his peace.

Lord, help me to take hold of your hand today, staying close to you in the coming year. No matter what happens, may the peace you promise come to characterize my life in a way that will bring you glory. Amen.