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For you know neither the day nor the hour

December 18, 2025

Zechariah 4-1-14| Psalm 50| Revelation 4:9-5:5| Matthew 25:1-13

Revelations 4:9-5:5

You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created. 

Matthew 25:1-13

Keep awake therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.

Collect:

Stir up your power, O Lord, and with great might come among us; and, because we are sorely hindered by our sins, let your bountiful grace and mercy speedily help and deliver us; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit, be honor and glory, now and for ever. Amen.

Oh boy, the readings for today are hard!  I first read them weeks ago when my assignment was sent and lamented; how was I going to write with these?  I read them several times over the weeks never getting anywhere and now I’m at my deadline.  This morning, I picked out a line from Revelations and one from Matthew and the collect, okay, I’ll write on the collect.  Now it’s evening and I have started and then God guided me to those difficult psalms, talking about enemies, evildoers, anger.  There, at the end of psalm 59 is my blog:

For my part, I will sing of your strength; I will celebrate your love in the morning;

For you have become my stronghold, a refuge in the day of my trouble.

To you, O my Strength, will I sing; for you, O God, are my stronghold and my merciful God. 

As a born and raised Episcopalian, I didn’t understand the strength of my spiritual life and dependence on God until adversity came calling, I lost my husband in a plane crash along with his best friend.  This line from Matthew has always spoken to me since that day 25 years ago:

 for you know neither the day nor the hour.

Those days, weeks, months after Midd’s death, I found my strength as God was my stronghold and my refuge through my grief. And God provided what I needed even when I didn’t know how to get through to the next day.  I often wonder; how do people without faith survive adversity?  I need my faith and have God as my stronghold.

Fran Gammell Roach