Change

I have been fascinated in life by change.  Some find it difficult; others seem to celebrate it.  Culture changes.  My body changes. Countries around the globe change.  Our children keep changing.  

Another thing is for sure:  eventually, if you live long enough, there is the possibility that change will break your heart.

A friend of mine’s parents were married over 50 years, and then one of them developed dementia that eventually required constant care in a facility.  So my friend took them there.  The first night he went to tuck his mother into a room with a little single bed for her to sleep in, and it broke his heart.  She said to him, “But where is my husband?  I always sleep next to my husband.  I want to sleep next to my husband.”  He wasn't prepared for that question.  The only thing he could think of to say was, “But Mom, this bed is way too small.”  She simply replied, “But I could curl up into a real small ball.”  My friend hates change.

A little girl used to put her head under the pillow at night so she couldn’t hear her parents, whom she loved, yelling at each other.  Then one night the yelling stopped because her mommy and daddy were not going to live in the same house anymore.  This little girl hates change.

A man has a job he loves.  It wakes him up in the morning.  It gives him significance and identity, people look up to him, and people seek him out for advice.  Then one day he’s told he’s too old, or one day he has a stroke and he no longer can speak a full sentence coherently.  Suddenly, none of those people are coming to see him anymore.  This man hates change.

This is a change-crazy, heartbreaking world.  So what do you do?  Where do you go? Maybe these are questions you’re asking yourself today, or maybe they’ll come tomorrow.  What do you count on in a changing world?  In my opinion, you count on what the Bible names as the only hope of our heartbroken, change-infected human species.

"In the beginning you [God] 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 will never end."   Psalm 102:25-27 

Then God summarizes this great TRUTH in the ancient book written by the prophet Malachi, where God makes this statement:  “I the Lord do not change.”

I have watched despair infect many people.  This is a truth about God, one of the great truths about God.  You can build your life on this truth.  You can count on God. The Bible says you can count on God because God ALONE does not change.  He is the only sure foundation in a heartbreaking world.  

Bill Crofton