I greet you in Jesus' precious name! It is Tuesday morning, the 2nd of January, 2024, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today. We start with Psalm 46:10:

"Be still, and know that I am God..."

As I'm recording this today, I'm thinking more of the mums and the grandmothers, the ladies who have worked so hard over Christmas - Cooking and cleaning and taking care of the children and the older folks; you are tired. I know you're tired - the Lord says we must be still and know He is God. 

I want to tell all those men who have had to fill in because they don't have any extra staff - you're exhausted. You don't want to look ahead to 2024 because you feel you won't cope. I've got excellent news for you: you will cope because Jesus is going with you! He will walk every step of the way for 2024 with you. It's not a case of just coming inside and saying, "I just wish I could get some rest" - we've got to learn from the Swallow. We have got to learn to rest 'on the wing'. He hardly touches the ground when the Swallow leaves Europe and comes down to Africa. He eats and catnaps on the wing while it's flying - it's incredible! We've got to do the same. It's no good coming aside for a couple of weeks and expecting to get rest. It doesn't work like that, not with me anyway. We must learn to rest on the wing. 

One step at a time... How do you cover a thousand miles? One step at a time. How do you eat an elephant? One mouthful at a time! I heard a story of a tough, old boss - The worker came to him and said, "I am so tired wheeling barrow-fulls of sand from one area to another." The boss said, "Why are you so tired? When you're not pushing the wheelbarrow, you're resting. And you're still resting when you're not shovelling sand into the barrow and pushing the barrow. Just get on with the job, you're resting all the time!" 

We have to pace ourselves this year. We've got to take one step at a time. We have to think carefully; we are living in perilous times, and we will only get through this if we do it Jesus' way. He says: "Be still and know that I am God. Every morning, I will give you enough Grace for the day." Just like He did for the Israelites when they left Egypt, they got fresh manna from heaven daily. They tried to collect extra for the next day, but it went bad - Just enough for the day, that's all we need, and that's how we will get to the promised land.

Jesus bless you, and have a wonderful day. Goodbye.