By Pastor Mark Woodward
Maple Leaf Parish of the UMC Cherry Grove, Fountain, Preston, and Spring Valley: Faith
Churches (and Lenora)
Recently on a cool, pleasant evening I went for a walk on a quiet country road. There was a gentle breeze and the evening was peaceful with colorful wildflowers and the songs of roadside birds. As I walked along, I got to thinking about the road ahead of me. I knew where this road went, but many times in life we do not always know what lies ahead of us …
Sometimes the road can get bumpy, dusty, muddy, hilly, winding and difficult to navigate. The road before us can be gentle and quiet and at times full of traffic, detours and construction making travel arduous and challenging.
Along the road we do not always know what lies ahead and this is when it is so very important to live by faith each day. Living by faith is not always easy to do, yet when we do so we realize that we are not alone and that God goes with us every day.
When my beloved wife of 44 years passed away last October and when I was diagnosed with prostate cancer early in 2025, I had no idea of what the road before me would be like. I was sad, scared, hurt, confused and lonely. The road before me looked pretty daunting! Then one dark night in early March 2025 I was paging through my hymnal in the quiet of my living room and the followng words jumped off the page into my heart:
“Be not dismayed whate’er betide, God will take care of you; beneath his wings of love abide, God will take care of you. God will take care of you, through every day, o’er all the way; he will take care of you, God will take care of you. No matter what may be the test, God will take care of you; lean, weary one upon his breast, God will take care of you.” (words written by Civilla D. Martin, 1904, music by W. Stillman Martin, 1905) page 130 of the 1989 United Methodist Hymnal)
In my journey I wanted in every way to be a faithful pastor comitted to the ministry to which I was called.
Though I didn’t know what the road ahead of me would be like, my faith seemed to grow each day when I thought about the words “God will take care of you.” It is now coming up on one year since Deanna passed away and I miss her dearly, and I don’t know where the road will lead me, nor do I know what lies ahead, but I do know that God goes with me every day and that God will take care of me.
God will take care of you, too! We may not know where the road leads or what lies ahead, but we know that in all things God goes with us and will take care of you and me. That old hymn from 1904 really spoke to me on that dark night in March and it did much to strengthen and encourage my faith when I was feeling scared and alone.
God in Jesus Christ walks on the road with us and we are never alone! “God will take care of you.”
Please know just how much you are loved.
Your friend,
Pastor Mark Woodward
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