"But when the fullness of time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman..."  Galatians 4:4
 
How grateful we are to be in that part of history; 'that fullness of time'!  Had it not been so, our Bibles would stop at the end of Malachi with all the promises to come at a future time.  Hallelujah! the time did come. So we:
 
Give thanks with a grateful heart
Give thanks to the Holy One
Give thanks because He's given
Jesus Christ His Son."
 
As we see in several of the Psalms the word Selah (pause) and we, also, see the word Haggaion (meditation), let us pause and reflect on the past year.  It is so easy and natural for us to thank the Lord for all the good things He has given and we do this gladly.  But have we given Him thanks for the hard things that we have gone through?  Remember,
"In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God concerning you in Christ Jesus."  1 Thessalonians 1:18
 
As you pause and reflect, have you come to know Christ in a greater measure?  Those hard times are really a blessing and a time of growth because we are pressed into the only One who can bear all things.  These are the times our faith and trust are deepened in 'the only wise God'.  These are the times we come to KNOW Him in a greater reality.  It is true, you may not want to go through those circumstances again, but can you not say, "I am so glad that I did because I know Whom I have trusted and He is able to keep that which I have entrusted to Him?"
 
The Apostle Paul says it this way in 2 Timothy 1:12,
"For this reason I also suffer these things, but I am not ashamed; for I know Whom I have believed and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day."
 
The Whom we trust and believe is none other than the,
"...Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace."  Isaiah 9:6
 
As we look to the new year may our hearts hunger and thirst after a greater knowledge of Christ, our Savior and Lord, for it was Jesus who said,
"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled."  Matthew 5:6
 
And to Him we give all honor, praise and glory for it is rightfully His.  Amen