There was a day in 1938 when King George VI was handed a poem by his 13 year old daughter Elizabeth, and on reading it he decided to use the first stanza for his New Year message to the British Empire. Little did he, or anyone else, realise that in September 1939 Britain would be at war with Germany. These were the words, taken from Louise Haskins’ poem, written in 1908.
I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year,
“Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown.”
And he replied, “Go out into the darkness, and put your hand
Into the hand of God; that shall be to you better than light
And safer than a known way.”
And now, some 78 years later, we still cannot have better advice. May the Lord grant His rich blessings to all who seek to follow Him with a true heart.
