I like change. I like random. I like new and different. Spend a day with me and you’ll see it. It’s how I function, how I’m wired. But when things beyond my control shift, it can really throw me off. There is a certain naked vulnerability that happens and can leave me feeling afraid, apprehensive, anxious. As outside the box as I am, there is still a big part of me that likes consistency and the knowledge that I can depend on things to stay a certain way. It makes me feel safe and secure.
Unfortunately, there aren’t a lot of things in life that are like that. Life is an ever-changing river of ebbs and flows. Circumstances, people, relationships…they all morph and shift at some point. And it can be very unsettling. Scary, even.
Lucky for us, God doesn’t ever change. Ever. Hebrews 13:8 says, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” And in the verses prior God is quoted as saying, “Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you.” So we have a God who will ALWAYS be the same and will NEVER leave us. Pretty amazing stuff! And if we believe, I mean really truly believe, that both of these facts are true, then we can experience a peace regardless of the other changes in our lives. We don’t have to be worried about having control over our shifting situations because we know the One who is in control will never change.
Remember the story of the wise man who built on the rock foundation and the foolish man who built on sand? Who stood firm when bad weather arose and storms came in? The man who built on the rock. The unchanging foundation. He was on solid ground. The foolish man’s home was destroyed because it was resting on shifting sand that eroded under the hits of the wind and the water of the storms. An unsteady and constantly changing “foundation”.
If we put our hope in circumstances, things or even people, we will at some point become disappointed, afraid or insecure. All of these things change. And as they change, our footing can slip and slide. Our foundation is unstable. But if we put our hope in an unchanging, ever present God who loves us completely, then those things in our lives can move and shift without such devastating consequences or effects. And we can rest secure. And I like that….
