「你們要過去得為業的那地，乃是有山有谷，有天上雨水滋潤之地，是耶和華你神所眷顧的；
從歲首到年終，耶和華你神的眼目時常看顧那地。」－申命記 11:11-12
親愛的朋友，今日，我們站在一片未知之域。
眼前的，是我們即將擁抱的新年。有誰能告訴我們將能尋見什麼，會經歷何事，有何種變遷，有什麼需要？但在這裡，我們的父神有個令我們雀躍鼓舞，且安慰人心的信息：「耶和華你神...眷顧...從歲首到年終，耶和華你神的眼目時常看顧那地。」
這地有山有谷，它既非一片平坦也非全然下坡。
若生命一成不變，單調的一致性會壓迫我們，因此我們需要高山和低谷。山所匯集的雨水使谷生意盎然，果實充盈。我們的生命也是如此！山的高峻領我們到施恩座，也從座前流出祝福的沛雨；生命中令我們疑惑而埋怨的山谷，竟會帶給我們甘霖。那些原來可以興旺在谷地的人，卻倒閉在曠野，埋葬在黃沙滾滾；神恩惠堅固的山嶺保守祂的子民免受敵人的苦害！
我們無法明白損失、傷痛、和試煉。但我們所需的只是信靠。父神今日正牽著我們的手，引領我們向前。這將是個美好，蒙福的新年！
Today dear friends, we stand upon the verge of the unknown. There lies before us the new year and we are going forth to possess it. Who can tell what we shall find? What new experiences, what changes shall come, what new needs shall arise? But here is the cheering, comforting, gladdening message from our Heavenly Father, "The Lord thy God careth for it." "His eyes are upon it away to the ending of the year."
"The land whither ye go to possess it is a land of hills and valleys and drinketh water of the rain of heaven: a land which the Lord thy God careth for: the eyes of the Lord are always upon it, from the beginning of the year even unto the end of the year" (Deut. 11:11-12).
All our supply is to come from the Lord. Here are springs that shall never dry; here are fountains and streams that shall never be cut off. Here, anxious one, is the gracious pledge of the Heavenly Father. If He be the Source of our mercies they can never fail us. No heat, no drought can parch that river, "the streams whereof make glad the city of God."
The land is a land of hills and valleys. It is not all smooth nor all down hill. If life were all one dead level the dull sameness would oppress us; we want the hills and the valleys. The hills collect the rain for a hundred fruitful valleys. Ah, so it is with us! It is the hill difficulty that drives us to the throne of grace and brings down the shower of blessing; the hills, the bleak hills of life that we wonder at and perhaps grumble at, bring down the showers. How many have perished in the wilderness, buried under its golden sands, who would have lived and thriven in the hill-country; how many would have been killed by the frost, blighted with winds, swept desolate of tree and fruit but for the hill-stern, hard, rugged, so steep to climb. God's hills are a gracious protection for His people against their foes!
We cannot tell what loss and sorrow and trial are doing. Trust only. The Father comes near to take our hand and lead us on our way today. It shall be a good, a blessed new year!
