At the Gate of the Year - All The LORD is near Daily Devotionals for 2025

Known to God from eternity are all His works.
Acts 15:18

At the Gate of the Year
In December 1939, England was at war. Nazi Germany had invaded Poland, and a dark, threatening cloud hung over all of Europe; an uncertain future lay before the people. King George VI was looking for inspiration as he was about to address the nation on the radio. Thirteen-year-old Princess Elizabeth gave her father a poem to read just before he addressed the anxious nation. The original title of the poem, written by Minnie Louise Haskins, was "God Knows," but it became popularly known as "The Gate of the Year," after the public broadcast by King George.

He began his speech with, "A new year is at hand, we cannot tell what it will bring," and then concluded with the poem:

And 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."

So I went forth, and finding the Hand of God, trod gladly into the night. And He led me towards the hills and the breaking of day in the lone East.

As the king read the poem, it had the desired effect, and a calmness settled upon the nation that continued to the end of the war.

Yes, God knows, in fact He knows all things; He knows what He is going to do "from eternity." Christ taught us that the heavenly Father knows and cares even when a little bird falls to the ground, and that the very hairs of our head are numbered. We are of more value than many sparrows (Mt. 10:29-31).

As we stand at "the gate" of this new year, may we also put our hand into the hand of the Father and trust Him for all things.

Brian Reynolds