As for God, his way is perfect:
The Lord’s word is flawless; he shields all who take refuge in him.
For who is God besides the Lord?
And who is the Rock except our God?
It is God who arms me with strength and keeps my way secure.
He makes my feet like the feet of a deer;
he causes me to stand on the heights.
He trains my hands for battle; my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
You make your saving help my shield, and your right hand sustains me;
your help has made me great.
You provide a broad path for my feet, so that my ankles do not give way.
Psalm 18:30-36, NIV
“He trains my hands for battle; my arms can bend a bow of bronze …. You provide a broad path for my feet …”
We are stronger as this year closes than we were when it began. We have given and forgiven, we have worshipped and warred when we might have whined and worried. Christlikeness is the superlative armor we require and His Word, a two-edged sword.
Our strength is in the Lord, and He is our strength. We are not those who stand on the beach and flex our muscles. We aren’t glancing around to see if we are well-admired, but we are looking to see if our enemies are losing ground and releasing their stranglehold on those we love. No time for preening, but we are ever improving our skills.
The number, the rate, and the ratio of abortions is dropping, by about 20 % between 2011 and 2017*, and some sources say at an even greater rate in the last two years. We have been warring on behalf of preborn children.
The divorce rate for people under 55 is at a 40-year low. There are a lot of factors that feed into that percentage (WSJ), but we’ll take it! Believing parents are praying for their grown children, perhaps as never before, where societies and families are perishing for lack of vison from on high. We pray as we believe, because we believe as we love, having faith in God, and our love is deepening, and our is hope burning bright, just as it should.
A new year is upon us. There is not one Psalm of the remaining 132 that does not lend itself to prayer and a revitalized strength, for ourselves and for those we love. Enemies are routed, walls and barricades are breached, the oppressed are rescued and set at liberty, all inside the verses of the Songs of David and of Ascents and of the other writers who chronicled their difficulties, their prayers, and the triumphs of the Lord on their behalf. We are riding the crest of those waves, bringing our d.l.f.s, own dear little friends, our desperately languishing friends, and dearly loved families, before the Throne of Grace and Mercy, there to receive the help that is essential for them and for ourselves.
Anonymous, Flexion del brazo, by permission, Wikipedia
Kelly Lynn bicep, petechons, by permission, Wikipedia
*Guttmacher Institute
Marketplace Monastics 