My, how things change. We are nine days into our lockdown here in northern Spain and so many things are different than they were at the first of the month. Two Saturdays ago we were supposed to have had our 50th Intensive institute at Aierdi; In the last ten days I have only been out of town twice; Two young men from Mexico were supposed to be here helping with some evangelism in cities of the area; This weekend we were scheduled to have a Ladies conference; In three weeks we were to have an Apologetics Retreat; When I went yesterday to the grocery store, the hushed atmosphere, the social distancing, and the pile of sanitary measures on display, made that normally mundane chore feel more like the prelude at a funeral; I had hoped by now to do some work in my garden. The entrance way to our building has been thoroughly sanitized because a neighbor has been diagnosed. Oh yes, an ice skating rink in Madrid is now being turned into a temporary morgue because there is no more room for the Coronavirus victims. And the list goes on…
And nobody knows when this hurricane of change will blow over or what things will look like when it does.
For the most part, we do not like change, especially the kinds of changes taking place these days. And by nature, the longer we go without major changes to our lifestyle, the more rooted we get in it, and the more offended we are when a jolt hits. In the back of our minds we know, in theory at least, that the future is a bit uncertain. But the long chain of relatively comfortable and smooth days lulls us into thinking all will be well, at least for us. So we plan… and plan… and plan, and forget.
We forget that every day of our lives God has been telling us, “For you are a vapor”, and “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth”, and to not say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such a city” without adding, “Lord willing”. That is because He knows that in a really literal sense, our earthly life is pretty much defined by change. Nothing visible to us stays the same. Ever.
We who are in Christ should know this, and live by it. It should affect every part of our attitude these days. It is what a hopeless world needs to see, a people who are not afraid of change, or really much disturbed by it, because our lives are anchored to a rock, an invisible Rock, the unchanging Rock.
What message does my life speak to those around me? Is it the quiet peace of one who is safe in He who is “the same yesterday, today, and forever”? It should be.
“FOR I AM THE LORD, I CHANGE NOT” (Malachi 3:6
And nobody knows when this hurricane of change will blow over or what things will look like when it does.
For the most part, we do not like change, especially the kinds of changes taking place these days. And by nature, the longer we go without major changes to our lifestyle, the more rooted we get in it, and the more offended we are when a jolt hits. In the back of our minds we know, in theory at least, that the future is a bit uncertain. But the long chain of relatively comfortable and smooth days lulls us into thinking all will be well, at least for us. So we plan… and plan… and plan, and forget.
We forget that every day of our lives God has been telling us, “For you are a vapor”, and “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth”, and to not say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such a city” without adding, “Lord willing”. That is because He knows that in a really literal sense, our earthly life is pretty much defined by change. Nothing visible to us stays the same. Ever.
We who are in Christ should know this, and live by it. It should affect every part of our attitude these days. It is what a hopeless world needs to see, a people who are not afraid of change, or really much disturbed by it, because our lives are anchored to a rock, an invisible Rock, the unchanging Rock.
What message does my life speak to those around me? Is it the quiet peace of one who is safe in He who is “the same yesterday, today, and forever”? It should be.
“FOR I AM THE LORD, I CHANGE NOT” (Malachi 3:6
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