Do you, for example, fear the future because it is unknown?  Trust God, and fear not!  This ignorance of coming events which are to affect our own happiness for time or for eternity is very remarkable, especially when contrasted with our minute and accurate knowledge of other things; such as the future movements of the moon and stars,—­events which, though revealing the history of immense worlds, are yet to us of far less importance than the malady which may enter our home to-morrow, and close for ever the eyelids of a babe!  In proportion, indeed, as the things of each day are to affect us, God has so concealed them, that we know not what one day is to bring forth.  And this ignorance is surely intended to accomplish at least one blessed end—­that of making us fly to God himself, and look up to Himself for guidance, for protection, and for peace.  The feeblest child thereby becomes filled with such assurance of faith, that, whatever is before him, he can say, “Nevertheless I am continually with thee:  thou hast holden me by my right hand.  Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterward receive me into glory,” How grand, then, is this thought, that whatever may come to the believer out of the mysterious womb of time, or out of the vast recesses of an unknown and immense eternity, nothing can possibly destroy his soul’s peace; for nothing can separate him from the love of the ever-present, unchangeable, omnipotent God.  The stars of heaven may fall, and the heavens depart as a scroll, and every mountain and island be moved out of its place; but the meekest child of God will be kept in perfect peace on the bosom of his Father, and there rest, untouched by the revolutions of coming ages, as the rainbow reposes on the bosom of the sky, unmoved by “the strong wind which rends the mountains, and breaks in pieces the rocks before the Lord.”

Whether, therefore, the year is to bring life or death, poverty or riches, health or sickness to us or to our friends,—­all is beyond our knowledge or our will.  But, thank God, it is nevertheless within the province of our will to secure to ourselves perfect peace and rest.  This sure hope is based on the glorious fact that there is a God—­a living God who verily governs the universe; whose kingdom is one of righteousness; whose omnipotence is directed by love; and who, consequently, so administers the affairs of His blessed kingdom, as that all its complex machinery of events move in harmony with the safety and peace of every true child.

Again, Do you fear because of coming duties or trials which you cannot but anticipate?  Trust God, and fear not!  “Cast thy burden”—­however great—­“the Lord, and He will sustain thee.”  Experience tells us that the evils which we once most feared never came, but were purely imaginary, while the things really appointed to us were never anticipated.  Let this help us to appreciate God’s goodness and wisdom more in commanding us to “take no anxious thought about the morrow,” because “sufficient for the day is the evil thereof.”