"It tells me what my Father has in store for every day."

Hymn: “There Is a Name I Love to Hear” – Frederick Whitfield (1829-1904)

Tune: OH, HOW I LOVE JESUS

The ‘it’ in this sentence hearkens back to the name I love to hear – that is, of course, the name of Jesus. The recurrence of the communicating-name of Jesus reminds me of many things, but one is the reassurance that God knows the plans he has for me – that he knows what he has stored up for me today.

I just returned from a trip to the local supermarket. They were not stocked up with all the things I went to purchase for this week. So I had to go to Wal-Mart to get the remainder of the things on my list.  That’s one of the real drawbacks to living in a small town with limited grocery access! I was already singing these words to myself, so the words in store became even more evident.

As it is with most realities about the wisdom and wonder of Almighty God, what he has in store – shelved for me - is an unknown… until it happens – until I start shopping my way through the day. “Clean up on aisle fourteen,” has to be a part of some of our days, you understand!

But the next line of this hymn says, “And though I tread a darksome path, (his love) yields sunshine all the way.” In other words, there is hope with each new day’s path, even those which may be dark. And we must admit that sometimes there are several darksome days in a row. Even so, Lord Jesus quickly comes and brightens some part of our path… enough to see us through.

The love of Christ indwelling me makes it possible for me to be kind, generous, helpful, appreciative to people I come across on my darksome path because they, too, may be in the same seemingly endless forest in which I find myself today. I can spare a little sunshine through my God-provided good graces.

Keeping my chin up may not be easy on those funk-filled days – sometimes brought on by others, sometimes self-imposed; however, I keep reminding myself that God knows, and that his love is reminding me to stick with his plan and to walk in the light provided.

I have little concern about the life which is to come: the afterlife, if you will. I have that taken care of – signed, sealed, one day to be delivered into the presence of Christ himself. The things of this earth: these are the things that weigh upon me. From another hymn:  And the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace.

 

PS: Because this is the third stanza in most books, you may not know this one as well as the others. In fact, I couldn’t find an on-line recording that includes it! Oh, the poor, unappreciated plight of the third stanza – often times the meatiest of all!