An ancient Greek philosopher named Heraclitis mused that “The only thing constant in life is change.” He’s also attributed with the thought-provoking, “No one ever steps into the same river twice.” And also, for the more mystically minded, “Everything Flows.”
You don’t have to be a Greek philosopher to notice that everything everywhere is constantly changing.
- Jobs end and jobs begin
- Technology advances rapidly
- Work responsibilities morph
- Children grow up and move away
- Relationships fade or die
- Bodies age and health declines.
- Finances go up and down
- Even natural landscapes around us change with the seasons and over the decades.
Change can be exhilarating. And change can be scary. But one thing is for sure, change is inevitable. The constant variability of the world is evidently how God designed it.
On one hand, scripture uses growth, maturing and transition language throughout to describe the wonderful, divine process of the Holy Spirit sanctifying every believer–transforming us into the image of Christ. We go from enemy to friend. Orphan to child. Lover of sin to lover of God. Dead to Alive. That kind of change is a welcome relief.
But what about when the pace of change or the scope of change becomes overwhelming? What if it feels like too much is changing too quickly? When upheaval feels unbearable and everything feels unstable, there’s only one place I know to go to for hope and help.
Scripture.
These are three truths from the Bible that bring me comfort.
- God is unchanging. God is permanent. Steady. Unmoveable. Unphased. (Malachi 3:6, Hebrews 13:8, James 1:17)
- God is sovereign. God’s plan is not spiraling out of control–it’s unfolding in His perfect timing. (Isaiah 46:19, Proverbs 19:21, Ephesians 1:11).
- God’s word is eternal.(Isaiah 40:8, Matthew 24:35, 1 Peter 1:25).
The things of earth are swirling in flux. The plans of men and nations are corrupt and corruptable. The rules and conventional wisdom on which society relies are unrecognizable from one generation to the next.
But the things of God? Solid. Trustworthy. Moving forward to a perfect, divinely appointed end.
Grab onto those truths in the storm. Take shelter in them like a refuge. They will hold.
“For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:17-18).