Allergic to Change

This weekend my niece got married. As we sat around the table visiting with family members, my sister in law mentioned that my brother in law had really struggled that whole week with marrying off his oldest daughter. I remembered when I got married. My dad took it kind of hard, too. In fact, that was about the time the movie Father of the Bride came out. My Dad said that he could relate to all of the emotions expressed by the father in that movie surrounding this life-altering event.

For quite some time now, I've been thinking about how uncomfortable we all are with change. It seemed odd - considering that there is constant change taking place in our lives, whether "good change" like a marriage or the birth of a child or "bad change" like moving away from loved ones or the death of a family member. I was thinking that it would be so much easier if we could just accept it as inevitable instead of fighting against it all of the time!

"...All the days of my hard service I will wait, Till my change comes." Job 14:14

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A few weeks ago, I was listening to a preacher on the radio and I heard these words:


Suddenly I understood.

We've all heard about how we have a "God-shaped hole in our hearts" that can only be filled by HIM, but I've most often heard that said in the context of salvation or marriage (not expecting another person to fulfill needs in our hearts that only God can fill).

I guess that it did not occur to me until that moment that the "God-shaped hole" is applicable to any and every aspect of our lives!

The more I thought about it, the more I remembered that I had heard about God's unchanging nature before! I simply had not seen how it applied to ME.

"But He is unique, and who can make Him change?" Job 23:13

"For I am the LORD, I do not change..." Malachi 3:6

"God is not a 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 not fulfill?" Numbers 23:19

"He who is the Glory of Israel does not lie or change his mind; for he is not a man, that he should change his mind." 1 Samuel 15:29

"Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows." James 1:17

"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever." Hebrews 13:8

How does this apply to me?

"Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath.God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope offered to us may be greatly encouraged. We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where Jesus, who went before us, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek." Hebrews 6:17-20 emphasis added

  Because God is unchanging and unchangeable, I have the hope of eternal life.
A firm and secure kind of hope.
Like an anchor.

I can know beyond a shadow of a doubt that my future - whether in this vascilating current life or in the "after" life - is completely secure in Him!

Is your future secure? It can be!

"For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God..." 1 Peter 3:18

 

Everyday Life Matters of the Heart