Folks, as we pause on this International Holocaust Remembrance Day, January 27, marking the liberation of Auschwitz in 1945, our hearts turn to one of the darkest chapters in human history. The Shoah, the Holocaust, saw six million Jewish people, God's chosen nation, systematically murdered by the Nazis and their collaborators between 1941 and 1945. Two-thirds of Europe's Jews were wiped out in gas chambers, mass shootings, starvation, and forced labour. It was evil unleashed, hatred against the people through whom the Messiah came (Romans 9:4-5).

Read more: From Yellow Badge to Yellow Ribbon - God's Faithfulness to His People

Hi folks, in your Bibles, in the book of Romans, chapter 9. Paul, that great apostle, a Jew through and through, says something that always touches my heart.

Read more: Loving God's Chosen People - The Urgent Call to Share Jesus with the Jews

Out on the long, lonely trails of Scotland, when the legs are screaming and the mist is thick, one verse keeps me moving:

Read more: They Shall Run and Not Be Weary – Discovering “Stickers of Meaning”

As I sit here in my home, Helensburgh, feeling sorry for myself with a bruised eye and a freshly slapped cheek from a rogue branch ascending Ben Bouie, I'm reminded anew of the raw beauty and unpredictability of God's creation as I went off the usual path.

Read more: Lifting My Eyes to the Hills - Reflections on Loss, Homecoming, and God's Unfailing Watch