Do Not Fear Change
We all have changes in our lives. From one day to the next we need God to help
us get through whatever may come our way. Some days we may be shouting, “Praise
God!” while other times we may be crying out, “I need a
miracle!” Whatever the day may
bring, changes will come and we need to have a godly mindset in order to handle
them.
“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and
forever.” Hebrews 13:8
When change comes
into our life, it’s overwhelming, confusing,
even terrifying. We can go to bed at
night to one reality and wake up to a completely different life. Change can make us feel lost and abandoned,
like we’ve been tossed overboard in the midst of a storm. We’re left spinning, trying to grab hold of anything we can find
that’s strong and stable. We’re tempted
to run from change, as though we could ever escape it.
As we all encounter
major changes in our individual lives, we need a place to find hope. We need somewhere to stand when we wake up to
news that a loved one has passed away, or our job is in danger, or the last candidate we would want was elected
into office. The truth is, there is one
thing that never changes, the one thing that always stays the same, our unchanging God.
The Bible tells us
that God never changes. “I the LORD
do not change. So you, O descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed.” (Malachi
3:6) There is no transition, contradiction, or
change in God. The same God who tossed this massive blue marble into space is the same
one who met Moses on Mount Sinai. The
same God who forgave David for his adultery is the one who crushed His own Son when Christ became sin at the cross for
us.
Yesterday, today, and
forever He is the God who is “…gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich
in love. The LORD is good to
all; he has compassion on all he has made.” (Psalm 145:8–9)
Because God never
changes, His word never changes. Everything He has told us about why and how the world came to be, about what’s wrong with
the world, and about what He has done
to save the world will never change. No
matter what anyone may say, no matter who denies or defies God’s word, it
remains firmly fixed. “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my
words will never pass away.” (Matthew 24:35)
And because His word never changes, His promises for us remain true,
“For I am
convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the
present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything
else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is
in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans
8:38–39)
“…being
confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to
completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 1:6)
The unchanging nature
of God and His unchangeable word are
real things on which we can stake our life. It is a rock big enough and strong enough for
us to build a house on it, and an anchor big enough and strong enough to hold
our souls in the midst of life’s waves and storms.
Because of these
truths, when everything in life seems flipped upside down, we can say with the
psalmist, “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear, though
the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains
quake with their surging.” (Psalm
46:1–3)
Things will continue
to change—in the world around us and
in our lives. Some of those changes will
feel like a tiny ripple, and others feel like a ten-foot wave. But no matter what changes we face we do not need to fear. We need not hide. We need not despair.
Our rock and anchor is our unchanging God, whose
character and promises remain fixed forever.
Can God change your life?
God has made it possible for you
to know Him, and experience an amazing
change in your own life.
Discover how you can find peace
with God.
