Isaiah 46:8-11 New King James Version
8 “Remember this, and [a]show yourselves men;
Recall to mind, O you transgressors.
9 Remember the former things of old,
For I am God, and there is no other;
I am God, and there is none like Me,
10 Declaring the end from the beginning,
And from ancient times things that are not yet done,
Saying, ‘My counsel shall stand,
And I will do all My pleasure,’
11 Calling a bird of prey from the east,
The man who executes My counsel, from a far country.
Indeed I have spoken it;
I will also bring it to pass.
I have purposed it;
I will also do it.
The Word of God for the Children of God.
Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.
The certainty of change is unavoidable.
The certainty of our resistance to that change is likewise unavoidable.
The predictability of change almost never happens the way we expect it.
The predictability of our resistance to any unexpected change is always 1000%
Anyone else nowadays feel like the only thing certain in this world is the 100% uncertainty of change? Every time you think your feet are firmly planted with expectations and plans solidified; you suddenly find yourself in shifting sand.
It can be frustrating and downright exhausting to lose what appeared to be firm footing and, once again, trudge through the vast unknown. Especially in today’s unpredictable and constantly evolving world, we will wonder… is there no solid assurance we can cling to? Where is that predictability? Where is that security?
Proverbs 4:1-9 New King James Version
Security in Wisdom
4 Hear, my children, the instruction of a father,
And give attention to know understanding;
2 For I give you good doctrine:
Do not forsake my law.
3 When I was my father’s son,
Tender and the only one in the sight of my mother,
4 He also taught me, and said to me:
“Let your heart retain my words;
Keep my commands, and live.
5 Get wisdom! Get understanding!
Do not forget, nor turn away from the words of my mouth.
6 Do not forsake her, and she will preserve you;
Love her, and she will keep you.
7 Wisdom is the principal thing;
Therefore get wisdom.
And in all your getting, get understanding.
8 Exalt her, and she will promote you;
She will bring you honor, when you embrace her.
9 She will place on your head an ornament of grace;
A crown of glory she will deliver to you.”
Keep my Commands … and live … I am not perfect! and live? for how long? I know when I was born – my mother told me. But, date and time of my death?
Do not forget, nor turn away from the words of my mouth? Can I remember every lesson, every proverb that I was ever taught by my Mother and Father?
Therefore get wisdom … And in all your getting, get understanding. Somethings are miles beyond my ability to understand, somethings I will never understand.
I don’t know about you, for myself I long for the highest possible predictability and security – like, all the time – in my life. If I could always have it “my way,” very little would change. It’s not that I am completely opposed to the new and the next, progress has brought much good in my own life and in our world.
The issue is… change equals the unknown. And there is no guarantee of “safety” in the unknown. Perhaps change and uncertainty are too challenging for you as well. Even if you are more naturally adventurous, navigating a shift can still be difficult, especially if it feels like you are walking onward without a roadmap.
So much of what we hear or read today challenges our human ability to believe wholeheartedly in the concept of any absolute truth. Ideas and doctrines swirl around inciting doubt and mistrust of the One constant that remains immutable in the midst of all of the temporal. At times we can feel like we are stumbling and bumbling through the darkness with flailing arms outstretched grasping for light and direction. On what can we truly depend – The rising of the Sun?
While the winds of change may blow in any direction but our own, we can all remain securely tethered to our unchanging, eternal God.
He is “the Alpha and the Omega (the beginning and the end)… who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty,” (Revelation 1:8, NIV).
He “is the same yesterday and today and forever,” (Heb. 13:8, NIV). No matter what goes on in our lives or in this world, he does not change. Period.
He is not a man that he should lie. He does not change his mind (Numbers 23:19).
He, and he alone, is God. Though confusion in our world threatens to tear down any sense of certainty, we can trust that truth will prevail; truth that is outlined for us in, throughout the length and breadth and depths of the Word of God.
Through this text, we believe not only in words written on a page, but in he who penned them.
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” John 1:1-5, NIV.
There is nothing in all of creation that was made without him.
He is our beacon of light that shines through the shadows.
He has been here since the beginning and he will be here through the end.
From the most ancient times to things yet to come, he will forever remain our unchanging God. With this assurance, I pray you can know while uncertainty and change will remain this side of heaven, there is One who will never change.
He is our firm foundation.
He sees you all of the time. (Psalm 139)
He cares for you all the time. (Psalm 23)
You can stand secure and upright in the most unpredictable of shifting sands. (Psalm 121)
Intersecting Faith & Life:
Do you ever find yourself struggling through unexpected changes or wildly shifting sinking quicksand?
When you feel lost and confused, where do you go for clarity, understanding?
After reading today’s devotional, can you see how often our God reveals his character to us?
Why do you think and believe there are so many statements about God’s nature and attributes in the Bible?
What is he trying to tell us?
How does understanding his promise to remain unchanging, grant you assurance of his faithfulness in this life?
Take some quality time today to write down a few scriptures that declare the truth of who God is so when unexpected transitions occur, or doubts arise, you can remember, pray over that firmly communicates He is your firm foundation.
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
Psalm 46 Authorized (King James) Version
Psalm 46
To the chief Musician for the sons of Korah, A Song upon Alamoth.
1 God is our refuge and strength,
a very present help in trouble.
2 Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed,
and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;
3 though the waters thereof roar and be troubled,
though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. Selah.
4 There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God,
the holy place of the tabernacles of the most High.
5 God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved:
God shall help her, and that right early.
6 The heathen raged, the kingdoms were moved:
he uttered his voice, the earth melted.
7 The Lord of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.
8 Come, behold the works of the Lord,
what desolations he hath made in the earth.
9 He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth;
he breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder;
he burneth the chariot in the fire.
10 Be still, and know that I am God:
I will be exalted among the heathen,
I will be exalted in the earth.
11 The Lord of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.
Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.
Loving God, Living God, Loving Hope, Living Hope, Loving Living Life His Way! "Many things are possible for the person who has hope. Even more is possible for the person who has faith. And still more is possible for the person who knows how to love. But everything is possible for the person who practices all three virtues." - Brother Lawrence (1605-1691), Practicing the Presence of God (1692). 