Day 45 — Change
Nothing on Earth is permanent. Over the years, even land and sea alter, and living things adapt as best they can. Humans change. We may not like it, but change is impossible to escape. Every second, more than 2 million red blood cells are destroyed in the human body. During a 24-hour period, the average human will breathe approximately 23,000 times. Your ears and nose continue to grow throughout your entire life. We grow old, we gradually wear out. Around us, the earth’s boundaries are in a perpetual flux of change as erosion runs its course.
But change is not just physical. Our feelings can turn in the blink of an eye. The heroes of yesterday become the villains of today. People fall in and out of love at an alarming rate. I think of a friend of mine whose life was ripped apart one day when his wife came home to say, “I don’t love you anymore.” We have most likely all felt the personal pain of breakdown in relationships—the smiles and pats on the back replaced by aloofness and silence. The wear and tear of life and the uncertainty of this unusual time can leave us jaded and exhausted.
What a relief it is to centre our lives around a God who is unchanging. A God who is faithful to the end and whose promises are secure. A God who will never leave nor forsake us. A God who can’t lie to us. A God who will never let us go. Consider these verses:
“In the beginning you laid the foundations of the earth and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment. Like clothing you will change them and they will be discarded. But you remain the same, and your years never end.” (Ps. 102:25-27)
“God is not man that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and then not fulfil?” (Num. 23:19)
“For I the Lord do not change.” (Mal. 3:6)
We may have been wounded by the reality of change - being furloughed, a shift in circumstances, the end of a dream and most cruel of all, the loss of a loved one. In the midst of such uncertainty, we can look to a steadfast God who never changes like shifting shadows, who will never fall in and out of love with us. We are His for eternity. Our names are written on His hand. As Wayne Grudem says:
“Our faith and hope and knowledge all ultimately depend on a person who is infinitely worthy of trust—because He is absolutely and eternally unchanging in his being, perfections, purposes and promises.”
Prayer: Lord I thank you that in the midst of the chaos and disorder you remain in control. Help me to trust you. Amen
Tim Hughes
Lead Pastor