By Chris WittsMonday 24 Jul 2023Morning Devotions with Chris WittsFaithReading Time: 1 minute
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Transcript:
There are three words I think we need to pay attention to, and that is change is inevitable. No matter your age or where you live, it’s a constant. The change is all around us. We crave, actually, for structure and routine.
My cat, for example, lives for routine, and my wife and I, we know her routine each day. She gets upset if we don’t adhere to that. But for humans, life is a lot more complicated. We can’t control every aspect of our lives. Like the man mowing his lawn one morning, he took a break, went inside, came back out, checked his mailbox. This went on for three more times, and he was getting more and more angry, and his neighbour was a bit concerned.
He wandered over and said, Is there a problem? Yes, he said, my stupid computer keeps saying, “You’ve got mail”. You see, technology is a wonderful part of our life, provided we understand how it works. Everything moves so fast, and I feel sorry for the older people in our community who struggle to keep up with computer usage – simple decisions are now complicated. We’re being inundated with multiple choices. Every value is being challenged and right is being called wrong. And wrong has being called right. No wonder that many are confused. How are we supposed to cope?
Faced with confusion or when lifelong beliefs are challenged or ridiculed? I think that sometimes we’re too hard on ourselves. It’s OK to feel a bit out of control or scared. This is normal when life as we know it has changed so much. Don’t push yourself too much or set your expectations too high. Give yourself a break when you’re finding it hard.
Is there anything that can give our life stability, anything that I can count on, which is not going to change? Well, actually, yes, there is. If we look at the Bible’s teaching, we notice three things, especially the first thing is that God’s love never changes – the words of Malachi 3:6 God says I, the Lord, do not change. The theologians have a word for this. It’s immutability, meaning no change. God has always been the same. He always will be. He never changes. He can’t get any better or worse. That’s why he says. I, the Lord, do not change. He is constant.
Just think about that for a moment. How many friends have you had or lost? Or those who become distant over the years because you just grew apart? It’s probably because one of you changed, but our God never changes. The God we read about in the Scriptures is the same God with us today. His plans will never alter – Psalm 33. Verse 11 says the eternal purposes will last to the end of the age, and that means when you go to bed tonight, you can be confident that he will not change. Overnight. He will be the same when you wake up. He loves you with an everlasting love, and that’s an anchor that you can hold your life to.
The second thing is that God’s Word will never change. In Isaiah 40 the promise is the grass withers and the flowers fade, but the word of our Lord will stand forever. God’s word doesn’t get stale. His word will guide us today and lead us into the future.
When the American astronaut Alan Shepherd was getting ready to enter space for the first time, a reporter asked him what are you depending on in this flight? And Alan Shepherd said, I’m depending upon the fact that God’s laws will not change. And it was Jesus who one day said everyone who hears the words of mine and puts them into practise is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. Matthew 7:24. If you want your life to be filled with meaning and purpose, build it upon the truth of God’s word. And then, no matter what happens with change, you’ll find security.
Popular opinion is going to change what the talkback shock Jock says will change. But God’s truth will remain solid.
And the third thing that’s not going to change is that God’s purpose for my life will never change. Did you know that long before you were born, God had a plan for you? Nothing will change that he created you for a purpose. Now we make plans. They can suddenly change. But God is sovereign. He knows everything.
He already knows what will happen, and he has the power to do anything. Proverbs 19, in the Old Testament says you can make many plans, but the Lord’s purpose will prevail. It was Martin Luther who said, I have held many things in my hands and I’ve lost them all. But whatever I’ve placed in God’s hands is what I still possess.
Let’s Pray
Dear Lord, I understand that there is plenty of change. Change is all around me happening all the time. Yet I thank you for the one constant in my life that God never changes. And I appreciate and thank you for that. Amen.