Change

by Rebecca Irwin

We are a people anticipating change. A change of seasons, a change in the weather, a change of days. A change of the channel, a change in the bad news, a change in the bull market. A change of fashion trends, a change in the hot colors, a change in the sofa we sit on. A change in our child's whining, a change in our mate's attentions, a change in our short tempers.

As we go about our days we either hope for and anticipate the change, or we doubt the change will ever come. Sometimes, we dread the change. We can pray for a change and stand amazed at how quickly the answer seemed to come. Other times, we can pray for a change in our loved one's hearts and lives and begin to think we will never live to see it.

The truth remains that change, in whatever form it comes, is inevitable. With time, comes change. We do not save the innocence of our childhood. We do not keep our first teeth and remain a youth like Peter Pan. We feel the effects of change at a more rapid pace than Methuselah who lived to be 969 (Genesis 5:27). We cannot change the storm like Jesus when he spoke to the sea. We do not have the power to reverse time and undo something that changed our life, or someone else's. We cannot hold onto our child and keep them at yesterday. And as we strive to change the things we dislike in ourselves, we are set back sometimes and realize that change can come slowly, it is a process.

BUT. But there is one who does not need to, or hope in, or strive for change. It is written : "What is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away." (James 4:14). "The world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever." (1 John 2:17). "They will perish, but You will endure; yes, all of them will grow old like a garment; like a cloak You will change them, and they will be changed. But You are the same, and Your years will have no end." (Psalm 102:26-27). "Jesus Christ is THE SAME YESTERDAY, TODAY, and FOREVER." (Hebrews 13:8).

What a comfort to know that we can count on Jesus Christ in totality because He is ALWAYS Himself. He does not act differently with a change in circumstances. He does not respond once we have changed. He does not wish to take something back because He changed His mind. He will never feel less loving toward us.

As I reflect on this Lenten season and our anticipation of Easter, I am so very grateful that through His sacrifice He changed my death sentence to eternal life. Yes, but even more, I am struck by the hope that unlike any other being or thing we have known, Christ remains the same. As an uncreated being he does not change.

Thank you Triune God for your nature that is unchanging. We could not, we need not hope for a better God. You are all in all. You are the I AM. It is because of your sameness that you can bring about much needed change in us and through us. May we be your instruments of hopeful change in a world anticipating good news.

Amen!