Senwes Scenario February / March 2016 | Page 58

••• CO L UM N MILANIE VOSLOO PHOTO: LEEF PATCHED FAITH WIN WILLIAM BARLAY SAID: ‘THERE IS NO HOPELESS SITUATION - ONLY PEOPLE WHO HAVE LOST HOPE WITH A SITUATION’. I t is the time for dust storms in SA-agriculture. Dry, sandy winds have taken the place of greenery. Land reform and farm attacks strike terror in our hearts. And the people who have to be fed by farmers are growing in numbers ... I don't think God would blame anyone for being despondent at a time like this. Our Father knows His children after all. He understands that we are only human and He knows exactly how easy circumstances in our own hearts, our human nature, relationships .. can affect our faith. After all, He was human for a time as well. However, God will always be God. We have to allow Him to be God and live with the knowledge that He - even in times of exile - holds His people in the palm of His hand. We must know that during such times He showers us with His wonderful, invisible grace. And that He - at His own time and in His own way - brings deliverance. This is confirmed in the book Isaiah, 56 where we see Him bringing hope to His chosen people in exile: The Lord felt sorry for his chosen people. He redeemed Jerusalem. The Lord shows his strength and salvation to all nations. The Lord himself will go before you. He will be your rearguard. Isaiah 52:9b, 10, 11c. Maybe we should allow the Holy Spirit to blow through us when the storm winds are blowing, ask Him to fill us with His Spirit and to allow the flame of hope to burn high in our hearts, to enable us to see His light in the future. Ask Him to enable us to pass the torch of hope to others. We do not always have control over our circumstances. However, God is in control. Let us look up to the sky on the darkest of nights and see that the stars in heaven are as endless as the grains of sand on the beach. May we always remember that miracles do not nd, happen on demand, hip but that we worship a God who often springs exceptional surprises on His children. When they least expect it. Father, I would just like to hold on to ill never Your promise that Y You will leave us, never desert us. Amen. Feb/Mar 2016 • SENWES Scenario Join Milanie Vosloo on her walk to peace and the God of joy. In Jou Voetpad na VREDE she tells us that God wants His children to be happy and fulfilled, through Him. The 366 devotions discuss various themes such as hope, honesty, faith, giving and receiving, happiness and just being yourself. Readers will be reassured that believers can always try again, despite dark moments, and that we can be at peace because we are guided by God. Milanie’s prayer for her readers is that their path to peace will convince them that God will never desert them and that they will once again become aware of His love and grace. The new book contains 366 devotions on 412 pages. The date of issue will be in August and the book will be available at a price of R189.95. The book follows on Milanie’s Sielskos vir die vrou wat lééf, Laat Sy liefde jou lei,